Concurrent permanency planning involves considering all reasonable options for permanency at the earliest possible point following a child’s entry into foster care and concurrently pursuing those options that will best serve the child’s needs. Concurrent permanency planning has been linked with reducing time to permanence, enhancing reunification and adoption efforts by engaging parents, and reducing the time to adoption finalization.
The foundation course provides practice opportunities to support the child welfare worker in selecting the legal permanence and concurrent goal that is in the best interest of each child, selecting permanency strategies that are best suited for the child’s individual needs, conducting purposeful meetings with parents, children and caregivers to support permanence, and sustaining concurrent planning upon initial placement until permanence is achieved.
In order to prepare for the 2-day skill-based foundation course, participants complete, prior to the first day of the training, two web-based training modules that introduce permanency and the various tools that can be utilized to enhance permanence.
Practice activities are completed within the 2-day foundation course that build upon the concepts and tools introduced in these two web-based training modules.
The Permanency web-based training module reviews the values of permanency and the case worker responsibility to identify a permanent home for children, while cultivating a network of supportive, nurturing adults and connections which, together, increases a child’s likelihood for success and positive outcomes now and into the future. (It will take you approximately 1¼ hours to complete this module.)
The Permanency Tools & Resources web-based training module introduces tools and resources that can be used to join with children to learn about their families and important people in their lives in order to expedite permanency. (It will take you approximately 1 hour to complete this module.)