Welfare Watch - July 26, 2010 - Plan "B" When All Else Fails, Concurrent Planning
The decision to take a child from a parent through the termination of parental rights is not to be taken lightly. This is a birthright to a child that should be removed only in the gravest situations--when a child is at risk of imminent harm or neglect. In these cases, the option of removal should be used and then used with the intention of finding permanency in another family for this child.
Because of the courts' reluctance to terminate
parental rights, many children languish in foster care far too long. The
average length of time in foster care for a foster child in
Georgia is 789
days. The national standard is less than 15 months. Georgia has
much to do to meet this national standard.
This is where concurrent planning comes into play. Concurrent planning is the working of two plans at the same time. If children need to be placed in out-of home care in the custody of DFCS, the goal is most often reunification with their parents as soon as possible. In order to make this happen, DFCS, the parents, extended family, friends, community partners, and service providers work together for the child to return home.
Robert Burns said, "The best laid plans 'Of Mice and Men" often go awry." Cases with factors that indicate a poor prognosis for reunification are appropriate for concurrent planning. Sometimes the biological family of the child has needs that may prevent the child from quickly returning home. Examples include cases where parents have a long history of substance abuse, uncontrolled mental illness, or significant abuse or neglect issues that affect the parent/child relationship.
The decision about the need for a concurrent plan
should be made within the first 90 days of the child entering foster care.
Parents are given the opportunity and assistance to work towards reunification
with their children, while at the same time knowing that DFCS is working "plan
B". They will be looking at family, resource parents, and friends as an
alternative placement if the parents are not able to resolve the reasons their
children entered care.
When used, concurrent planning can decrease the child's time in care and improve
permanency for the child. So, concurrent planning is not just developing two plans for
the child at the same time. The primary goal is always reunification. Success is
seen as timely permanency for the child, either through reunification or another
permanent option.
Concurrent planning is used in many states and has been shown to be an effective strategy for improving permanency outcomes for children. Georgia's concurrent planning initiative is a part of an overall focus on Family Centered Practice as the model for work within DFCS.
If you have additional questions about the concurrent planning initiative, you may contact Amy Mobley at ammobley@dhr.state.ga.us.
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Welfare Watch, an email newsletter of the
Georgia
Association of Homes
and Services for Children
as a public service.
http://www.gahsc.org
Normer Adams, Editor
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