Concurrent Planning for Timely Permanency for Children - Indiana

Defining Concurrent Planning

Citation: Child Welf. Man. Ch. 6, § 10

In policy: Concurrent planning requires the identification of two permanency plan goals and simultaneous reasonable efforts toward both goals with all participants. The intent of concurrent planning is that both plans will be pursued simultaneously and aggressively.

State Approaches to Concurrent Planning

Citation: Child Welf. Man. Ch. 5, § 15

The use of concurrent planning can be an effective way to ensure that children in out-of-home and in-home care achieve timely permanency. The Department of Child Services (DCS) will evaluate each case to determine the appropriateness of concurrent planning.

DCS will develop a case plan with two permanency plan goals at the onset of the case for a child in out-of-home or in-home care that meets at least one of the following mandatory concurrent-planning indicators:

• Either parent has a history of voluntary termination of parental rights.
• A minor parent younger than age 16 has no support systems, and placement of the child and parent together has previously failed due to the minor parent's behavior.
• The parent has asked to relinquish the child on more than one occasion following the initial intervention.
• The parent has a diagnosed mental illness or substance abuse problem that renders him or her unable to provide for or protect the child that, upon assessment, indicates either of the following:
  • A history of treatment without response
  • A pattern of noncompliance with medication or treatment intervention

DCS may develop a case plan with two permanency plan goals for a child in out-of-home or in-home care that meets at least one of the following indicators:

• There has been a single severe incident of child abuse and/or neglect, such as a near fatality of the child or a sibling or a fatality of a sibling.
• The family has a history of repeated, failed attempts to correct conditions that resulted in child maltreatment.
• The child or his or her siblings have been in out-of-home care on at least one other occasion for 6 months or more or have had two or more prior placements with DCS involvement.
• There has been an ongoing pattern of documented domestic violence lasting at least 1 year in the household.
• The parent has a developmental disability or emotional impairment that, upon assessment, indicates that the parent may be unable to provide for, protect, or nurture the child, and the parent has no other relatives or social supports able or willing to assist in parenting.

DCS may consider concurrent planning for other children in DCS care, when appropriate.