Permanence Planning, Placement Strategy and Guidance

Permanence planning is a process and the child's needs should be kept under review at all times. The timing of further permanence planning meetings should be determined by the following factors:

• Where there is a change in the child's circumstances or plan;
• Where assessments of possible carers are completed;
• At least 10 working days before the CLA review before the final hearing;
• Where requested by an IRO as part of the child's CLA plan;
• Where there is no final plan;
• If the outcome of further assessments changes the care plan a further permanence planning meeting needs to be arranged and a CLA review held to ratify the new plan.

At the first CLA Review the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) will record the decision that a Permanence Planning Meeting or discussion must take place no more than 10 weeks after the child became looked after.

The plan for permanence and the advice given by the Specialist Services will be recorded in the Care Plan, reviewed and revised whenever appropriate, between or prior to CLA Reviews. Advice from Specialist Services should be sought each time the permanence plan is revised.

Monthly Permanence Meetings are held, chaired by Head of Adoption and Fostering and attended by managers from Operational, Fostering, Adoption and Independent Review teams to track family finding progress for children subject of a permanence plan.

Link to long term fostering matching form: Child Permanence Report (CPR).

Parents and extended family must be given information regarding Children’s Services policy on Permanence at the earliest opportunity. If the plan is for adoption, a worker from the Adoption Team should provide ongoing support to the responsible social worker.

For children with links to a foreign country (e.g., foreign national child, a child with dual nationality or a British child of foreign national parents/origin) social workers should consider informing the relevant Embassy and work with colleagues abroad when exploring potential homes for a child with family members aboard (see Working with Foreign Authorities: Child Protection and Care Orders).

The Team Manager and Service Manager are responsible for driving forward the Permanence Planning following appropriate consultation with the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO). All permanent and long-term homes, except Special Guardianship, will need to be approved at either the adoption or fostering panels (see Section 10.3, Adoption Panel and Section 8, Fostering Panel).

Child In Need Meetings and Family Group Decision Making meetings (i.e., Family Network Meetings/Family Group Conferences (FGC) (see Family Group Conferences Procedure) provide an early opportunity for extended family connected persons who may be able to care for the child/young person in the short or long term to be explored. This must be with parent's consent or by direction of the Court. For those where there is evidence of an existing relationship or interest and commitment to the child/young person, a Viability Assessment will be carried out. The social worker will compile a genogram/map of the child's extended family and social network.

If a decision is taken not to hold one of these meetings, the reasons for this must be recorded on LCS and agreed by the Team Manager.

A Permanency Planning Meeting (PPM) will be held for all children under 12 years of age. Children over the age of 12 years will not require a PPM. However, the Care Plan must address issues of permanency. In exceptional instances the Service Manager, on recommendation from the Team Manager, can agree that a PPM is not required for children under 12 years of age.

If a PPM is not to be held, a discussion with a Specialist Team (Adoption and/or fostering) must be held and recorded on the child's file. The decision not to hold a PPM must be recorded as well as the rationale for this.

Different processes exist where the child/young person is a relinquished baby. The Adoption worker is the responsible social worker and the care planning is managed in the Adoption Team (see Relinquished Children Procedure).

The PPM or discussion with Specialist Service Teams, should occur at the earliest opportunity and no later than two weeks before the second review (or within 6 weeks of PLO process). It will formulate the permanence plan to be presented to the second CLA review for ratification. It then becomes incorporated into the Care Plan and is reviewed at EVERY CLA review and the IRO will take up issues if there is drift or delay. It must be kept up to date. For children who are the subject of care proceedings the Permanence Planning timescales must tie into the Public Law Outline (PLO) timescales.

The child's care plan must be updated on LCS 28 days after the first CLA review. The plan for permanence is an integral part of the care plan and is reviewed at the second CLA review.

The second CLA review will take place no more than 16 weeks after the child became looked after.

If there are matters in dispute between different parts of Children's Services, it is the Head of Service's responsibility to ensure that there is one clear Local Authority position prior to documents being filed in Court. It is recommended that, in these circumstances, the Head of Service will chair the meeting.

For children in care proceedings who are not looked after, the first interim care plan, filed in the care proceedings, must record that a Permanence Planning Meeting must take place no more than 14 weeks after the start of the care proceedings.

The social worker in consultation with their manager will complete the Child and Young Person's Permanence Plan on LCS.

For Brothers and sisters, there may be only one Permanence Planning Meeting but each child must have a separate plan using the Child and Young Person's Permanence Plan, following the completion of the Child and Young Person's Permanence Plan the social worker will arrange for the distribution of the report to all attendees who have been invited to the meeting in advance to enable the agencies to consider if they need to attend.

Where the possible plan is adoption or where the child is under 10, the social worker should consult with the Adoption Team Manager to discuss.

Where a possible plan is long term fostering, or Special Guardianship Order, the social worker should consult with the Manager of the Fostering Team/Manager of the Kinship Team.

The Services Manager of the social work team (Family Safeguarding or Children Looked After) will chair. Specialist Services must send a representative, either the Team Manager or Senior Practitioner.

Following the distribution of the Child and Young Person's Permanence Plan and for all children in care proceedings and for children where the preferred plan is adoption, the Social Worker should ensure that the Childcare Litigation Unit (CLU) is invited to attend the Permanence Planning Meeting to give legal advice in respect of the care plan in accordance with the requirements of the Children Act 1989, Guidance and Regulations, Volume 1 Court Orders. If CLU confirms that its specific attendance is not required, they should instead be provided with a copy of the minutes of the Permanence Planning Meeting.

The following must be invited:

• Specialist Service, Adoption and Kinship Team Manager or Senior Practitioner;
• Social Worker's Team Manager or Services Manager who will chair;
• Child's Social Worker;
• Supervising Social Worker to Foster Carer / Residential Manager;
• Foster Carer / Residential key worker;
• Children's Guardian;
• IRO;
• If Kinship Carers are invited to the meeting, they can only attend the initial information sharing part of the meeting and not the decision-making part of the meeting.

The child's social worker will ascertain the child's wishes and feelings and ensure they are presented to the meeting in a form acceptable to the child.

The chair will complete the minutes and summary sheet for each child. This document must be attached to the LCS record. Admin will circulate the minutes to all the invitees to the meeting as well as those who were asked to contribute.

Where the Adoption Team Manager attends the Permanence Planning Meeting and issues adoption advice following the meeting, this should be circulated to both the social worker and the IRO following the meeting within at least 5 working days.

The completed minutes and summary sheet must be sent to the IRO at least 5 working days before the second CLA review. When the minutes of the PPM are available on LCS the allocated IRO must be notified.

The child's social worker will inform the birth parents after the meeting of the outcome of the meeting and will send the PPM summary sheet and recommendations for the plan for permanence to the parents 5 days before the second CLA Review. A record of the date of these discussions and the date of the written confirmation will be included in the Child's Permanence Report if the plan is adoption (see Adoption Procedures and Special Guardianship Procedures).

For children 14 years plus the long-term care plan can be ratified in a long-term home at a review meeting and the IRO will record the decision on LCS.

In order to ensure consistency in the meeting format an Agenda has been drawn up to assist Team Managers. The Chair will need to ensure that the following areas are considered in the meeting:

4.3.1 Child's Needs

• Attachment needs/emotional development;
• Health;
• Education;
• Social Development;
• Family Relationships; (to include brothers and/or sisters assessed relationships)
• Child's wishes and feelings;
• Equality strands relating to the child's assessed needs;
• Contact;
• Options for permanence;
• Identified services required;
• Adoption advice;
• A Contingency Plan outlining alternative options.
• Legal:
  • Return to parent/s Supervision Order/Care Order; for children 8 & under, Special Guardianship Order, Adoption;
  • Record the reasons why adoption is not being considered for a child under the age of 8 years
  • Consider the contingency plan if other options are being considered;
  • Life story work is required for all children for whom the plan is a permanent home other than reunification with a birth parent. The child's Social Worker must ensure that this is undertaken and completed.

4.3.2 Possible Options for Permanence

Consider a Family Group Conference to further develop the Permanence Plan.

• Reunification with parent(s);
• Kinship care Permanence with extended family through Special Guardianship Order, Child Arrangements Order or Adoption. N.B. Adoption can be an option for a birth relative e.g., Grandparent/s, aunt, cousin, on advice;
• Kinship foster care (child remains CLA);
• Long term foster care with approved 'stranger' foster carers e.g., Herts Foster Carer;
• Adoption with approved 'stranger' adopters.

For children under age 10 who cannot live with their birth parents, consideration must be given as to why adoption is not a suitable option including why another order is preferable if the child is to be cared for by a Kinship carer. The plan for a child of this age should always be presented to the Agency Decision Maker for consideration and determination if the plan should be adoption (see Adoption Panel and Agency Decision Maker's Decision Procedure).

The Care Plan must contain a plan for permanence with contingency plans as necessary. In some situations, there will be parallel planning so as to avoid any delay in achieving permanence for the child. This allows for planning for reunification with parents whilst exploring and progressing other options should reunification not be viable and, or consistent with the child's welfare.

It is important to assess brother and/or sister relationships early on in the planning process to inform permanency planning.

The Sibling Attachment checklist should be completed on all CiN/CP/CLA Plans for brothers and sisters who have existing relationships to better understand the nature of the sibling relationship and inform the care planning. This should then be reviewed regularly. The sibling checklist should be completed by the carer and analysed by the social worker. The social worker must consider how far the brothers and/or sisters are supportive of each other, or if the significant harm that the children have received, in terms of their attachment behaviours, is such that the brothers and/or sisters would have needs better met by separate homes. This is where it is imperative that the analysis sections of the sibling checklist are completed and if the social worker has any doubts about the conclusions of the work must contact the adoption service for consultation at the earliest opportunity. Further assessment may be required.

Children who have a plan for adoption may:

• Have brothers and/or sisters, also with a plan for adoption, all of whom are subject of Care Proceedings.
• Have brothers and/or sisters who are already adopted. These are likely to be older than the child in question.

Where brothers and/or sisters have existing relationships the Sibling Checklist must be completed and analysed for the Permanency Planning Meeting. If the outcome of the Permanency Planning Meeting is that there is a parallel plan of adoption a sibling assessment should be completed by the social worker in readiness to be presented to, the Agency Decision Maker's Decision as to if adoption is the best plan (SHOBPA) for the child, included in the final care plan submitted to court and also shared with the Adoption Panel (Matching). When reaching a decision as to whether or not siblings should be placed together or apart for adoption, statutory guidance calls for “A comprehensive assessment of the quality of the children’s relationships, their individual needs and the likely capacity of the prospective adopter to meet the needs of all the siblings being placed together” (Department for Education, 2013)’.

As outlined above the sibling checklist should be completed by the carer and analysed by the social worker. The sibling assessment however should be undertaken by the child’s social worker with information gathered from the Sibling Checklist as well as obtaining the views of as many professionals as possible that know the child, reviewing any assessments completed and reviewing children’s records as well as direct work undertaken with the brothers and sisters.

The Permanency Planning Meeting for each child must consider the social worker's analysis. Additionally, the issue of delay has to be considered in the balance against identified positives of brothers and/or sisters being placed together.

If a child has a brother and/or sister already placed in an adoptive home, then active consideration must be given to placing the brothers and/or sisters together. The relationship of the child to a brother and/or sister is more significant than to an adult relative in the extended family with whom there is no pre-existing relationship. If a decision is made not to place the brothers and/or sisters together in this situation, the reasons must be recorded in the Final Court care plan as well as the Child’s Permanence Report and all paperwork to Adoption Matching Panel.

The decision as to whether the brothers and/or sisters should be placed in an adoptive home or not must be given with reasons in the Sibling assessment. This must be countersigned by the Service Manager.

See Statutory Guidance on Adoption.

• Birth parents pack from Adoption Team to be given to social worker, to then explain & give to birth parent/s;
• CoramBAAF Form Child Permanence Report 2024 and Annex B Template (CoramBAAF Child's Permanence Report (2024) - Herts CC) to be written by a suitably qualified and experienced and/or supervised by a suitably qualified and experienced social worker, also usually the social worker who knows the child best (for Agency Decision Maker and for child when reading as an adult) and signed by parents or written explanation given in CPR if not; The author should indicate how they meet the requirements, where the social worker has been working under the supervision of a suitably qualified social worker, that social worker should sign the report as well, indicating the capacity they are working in and how they meet the requirements. The role of any other contributors should be described. See Restriction on the Preparation of Adoption Reports Regulations 2005 (ARR);
• See Quality Assurance process for CPRs at Adoption Panel and Agency Decision Maker's Decision Procedure, Child Permanence Reports and Prospective Adopters' Reports to Adoption Panel and Agency Decision Maker;
• Book Agency Decision Maker with Adoption Panel administrator, see Adoption Panel and Agency Decision Maker's Decision Procedure, Agency Decision Maker (ADM) - Role and Process;
• Ensure all paperwork is available as required. See Chapter 8.5a section 6 Agency Decision Maker, Role and Process;
• Following Agency Decision Maker 's decision that adoption is the plan for the child, and if there is not parental consent, or there is a belief that parental consent may be withdrawn a Placement Order application will be lodged with the Court;
• Identify services required;
• CLA review to be promptly reconvened if next CLA review more than 3-4 weeks away as decisions arising from PPM taken at CLA review form basis of care plan for Court;
• PPM summary sheet to be sent to Head of Independent Review Team within 5 working days of the PPM;
• Identify further meetings required in particular ensure permanency planning links to the CLA Review process;
• Adoption advice to be minuted as a separate paragraph;

When a child is subject to a Placement Order, his or her CLA Review, will monitor progress to place a child with an adoptive home. The IRO may require a further Permanency Planning Meeting see Looked After Reviews Procedure, Looked After Reviews for Children Who Are Subject of Child Protection Plans.

All children who are subject of a Placement Order will have a CLA Review every three months to monitor the progress of family finding. Where a significant change has been agreed to a child's care plan the IRO must ensure that any changes are reflected in the child's Permanence Plan i.e., the minute of the Permanency Planning Meeting.

All children who continue to be subject of a Placement Order after six months, and where adoption is unlikely to be approved within 12 months must have their Care Plan referred to the Head of Service for Adoption and Fostering or Head of Family Safeguarding or Head of Children Looked After.

The progress of planning for the child will be monitored by the Practice and Resources Panel (P.A.R.P.) and regular reviews of the Permanency Tracker.

Where there is a need for further discussion regarding the permanency plan/ drift occurring for the child with the plan a referral should be made to the PARP panel.

See also: Children’s Services Panels.

Permanence Plans are required for all children who are looked after. For those who start to be looked after at age 15+ years the needs assessment and the Pathway Plan form the Permanence Plan). Permanence planning is a process, and the child's needs should be kept under review at all times.

Permanency Planning Meetings

• The PPM or discussion with Specialist Service Teams, should occur at least two weeks before the second review;
• The child's care plan must be updated on LCS 28 days after the first CLA review. The plan for permanence is an integral part of the care plan and is reviewed at the second CLA review;
• The second CLA review will take place no more than 16 weeks after the child became looked after;
• For brothers and sisters, there may be only one Permanence Planning Meeting, but each child must have a separate plan using the Child and Young Person's Permanence Plan;
• Where the Adoption Team Manager attends the Permanence Planning Meeting and issues adoption advice following the meeting, this should be circulated to both the social worker and the IRO following the meeting within at least 5 working days;
• The completed minutes and summary sheet must be sent to the IRO at least 5 working days before the second CLA review. When the minutes of the PPM are available on LCS the allocated IRO must be notified;
• For children 14 years plus the long-term care plan can be ratified in a long-term home at a review meeting and the IRO will record the decision on LCS.

Brothers and Sisters

• It is important to assess brother and/or sister relationships early on in the planning process to inform permanency planning;
• The Sibling Attachment checklist should be completed on all CiN/CP/CLA Plans and reviewed regularly;
• If a child has a brother and/or sister already placed in an adoptive home, then active consideration must be given to placing the brothers and/or sisters together;
• The decision as to whether the brothers and/or sisters should be placed in an adoptive home or not must be given with reasons in the Permanence Plan.

Preventing Drift

• All children who are subject of a Placement Order will have a CLA Review every three months to monitor the progress of family finding;
• All children who continue to be subject of a Placement Order after six months, and where adoption is unlikely to be approved within 12 months must have their Care Plan referred to the Head of Service for Adoption and Fostering or Head of Family Safeguarding or Head of Children Looked After.

Practice and Resources Panel (PARP)

• Where there is a need for further discussion regarding the permanency plan/drift occurring for the child with the plan a referral should be made to the PARP panel.