Need for Early Planning 624-05-15-55

(Revised 2/10/07 ML #3053)

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Permanency planning must begin immediately. If appropriate, concurrent planning should be initiated as soon as possible. The difficulties inherent with children adrift in foster care can be reduced by starting efforts for permanency prior to or as soon as the child enters foster care.

 

In permanency planning for a child, keep in mind the safety issues for the child, and the philosophy of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 – foster care is not a place to grow up. Children deserve permanency, safety, and well-being.  

 

Immediately after the child is removed, parents have usually not yet adjusted to their loss and are more apt to be motivated to change the conditions that led to the removal of their child. If intensive case management services through the Wraparound process does not begin immediately after the child has been placed in foster care, the original problem(s) may become obscure. The parents may have adjusted to life without the child and may be unable to reincorporate their child into their home without major changes in their lifestyle. In addition, they may resist treatment/services because they are reluctant to open old wounds and to face the possibility of again failing to meet society’s expectations of them as parents. If the decisions in permanency planning/the Foster Care Child & Family Team meetings are delayed, the parents may leave the jurisdiction making the task of replacing the child in their home more difficult to achieve. The agency will be handicapped when trying to evaluate from a distance the parents’ potential to care for their child or children. This can be time consuming, and the results are far too often inconclusive or non-existent.