Concurrent Planning for Timely Permanency for Children - Arkansas

Defining Concurrent Planning

Citation: Admin. Code 016 15 CARR 011, Proc. VI-A6

Concurrent planning includes working toward the goal of returning the child to the parents while concurrently working on alternative permanent placements.

State Approaches to Concurrent Planning

Citation: Ann. Code § 9-27-303(49)(D); Admin. Code 016 15 CARR 011, Proc. VI-A6

Reasonable efforts to place a child for adoption or with a legal guardian or permanent custodian may be made concurrently with reasonable efforts to reunite a child with his or her family.

In regulation: Concurrent planning will be done for all out-of-home placement cases except for those cases where the court determines that no reasonable efforts should be made to provide reunification services. The level and degree of concurrent planning will be on a case-by-case basis. The caseworker will immediately develop and implement a realistic concurrent plan.

The caseworker will do the following:

• Inform the family of the concurrent-planning process
• Emphasize the importance of family involvement and partnerships in establishing permanency for children in out-of-home placements
• Request parental input in identifying relatives and significant others who may be appropriate caregivers and initiate contact and home studies
• Use the identified contact information to locate and contact named relatives to assist in the child's placement
• Complete the initial case plan within 30 days and document all concurrent-planning activities in the appropriate section of the case plan, including tasks that support reunification as well as permanency activities