Permanency & Care Planning

Long-term planning is necessary to ensure that children have a stable and nurturing family environment throughout their childhood and beyond. This promotes a sense of security, continuity, commitment, identity, and belonging. It is worth noting that older children and young people require stability in their lives, whether they prefer foster homes or adoption. Some may opt for a children's home as it provides an excellent opportunity to experience a sense of security and belonging.

In this training, we will consider the question, "How are the child's permanence needs being met?" through exploration.

Learning Aims:

• Understand the developments in the legal framework for permanence planning for children.
• Apply research in relation to permanence planning and specifically in assessing the type and levels of contact between children involved.
• Expectations around Permanency Planning Meetings (PPMs)
• How to evidence and record the views, needs, expectations and achievements of the child, carers and professionals involved
• the permanence planning process and the significant people in the child's lives
• Analyse the voice of the child and how the views of children influence the permanence planning process to maximise the outcomes for the child.
• Evaluate the importance of the Child’s Permanence Report containing an analysis of the arguments for and against each permanence.
• Explore the challenges for Local Authorities following the impact of Re B (A child) and Re B – S (Children) to public children and adoption cases.

Format: This is a live training session through Zoom. It includes taught sections, small group work, work in pairs, and whole group discussions.