Concurrent Permanency Planning Pre-Training Coursework

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.