skip to body
Skip to main content
  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
  • Administration for Children & Families
  • Children's Bureau
Child Welfare Information Gateway
REPORT ABUSE OR
NEGLECT
FIND HELP WITH A
PERSONAL SITUATION   

Home Topics Publications Library State Resources More Tools & Resources News & Events
REPORT ABUSE OR
NEGLECT
FIND HELP WITH A
PERSONAL SITUATION   
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Chat
  • Free Subscriptions
  • Resources in Spanish
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Chat
  • Resources in Spanish
  • Shopping Cart
  • Home
  • Topics
    • Family-Centered Practice
      • Philosophy and Key Elements of Family-Centered Practice
      • Family-Centered Practice Across the Service Continuum
      • Engaging Families
      • Family-Centered Casework Practice
      • Family Group Decision-Making
      • Engaging Communities to Support Families
      • Creating a Family-Centered Agency Culture
    • Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Definitions of Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Identification of Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Risk Factors That Contribute to Child Abuse and Neglect
      • People Who Engage in Child Abuse or Neglect
      • Impact of Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Child Abuse & Neglect Fatalities
    • Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
      • National Child Abuse Prevention Month
      • Overview: Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Promoting Child & Family Well-Being
      • Public Awareness & Creating Supportive Communities
      • Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Programs
      • Developing & Sustaining Prevention Programs
      • Evidence-Based Practice for Child Abuse Prevention
      • Evaluating Prevention Programs
    • Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Introduction to Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect
      • Assessment in Child Protection
      • Differential Response in Child Protective Services
      • Child Protection Casework Practice
      • Responding to Child Maltreatment Near Fatalities and Fatalities
      • Trauma-Informed Practice in Child Welfare
      • Collaborative Responses to Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Supporting & Preserving Families
      • Supporting Families With Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
      • Introduction to Family Support and Preservation
      • In-Home Services Involved With Child Protection
      • Family Support Services
      • Resources for Managers of Family Support and Preservation Services
      • Family Preservation Services
    • Out-of-Home Care
      • National Foster Care Month
      • Overview
      • Foster Care
      • Group and Residential Care
      • Kinship Care
      • Casework Practice in Out-of-Home Care
      • Transition to Adulthood and Independent Living
      • Placement Decisions
      • Resources for Foster Families
    • Achieving & Maintaining Permanency
      • Overview
      • Reunifying Families
      • Recruiting and Retaining Resource Families
      • Permanency With Relatives and Kin
      • Guardianship
      • Permanency for Specific Populations
      • Legal and Court Issues in Permanency
      • Interjurisdictional Placements
      • Working With Children, Youth, and Families in Permanency Planning
      • Working With Children, Youth, and Families After Permanency
      • Resources for Administrators and Managers About Permanency
      • Resources for Families About Permanency
    • Adoption
      • National Adoption Month
      • Children's Bureau Adoption Call to Action
      • All-In Foster Adoption Challenge
      • Adoption and Guardianship Assistance by State
      • Introduction to Adoption
      • Ethical Issues in Adoption
      • For Adopted People
      • For Adoption Program Managers & Administrators
      • For Expectant Parents Considering Adoption and Birth Parents
      • How to Adopt
      • Laws Related to Adoption
      • Parenting After Adoption
      • Postplacement Adoption Casework Practice
      • Preplacement Adoption Casework Practice
      • Search & Reunion
    • Management & Supervision
      • Administering & Managing Child Welfare Agencies & Programs
      • Child Welfare Practice Improvement
      • Disaster Preparedness & Response
      • Ethical Practice & Client Rights
      • Evaluating Program and Practice Effectiveness
      • Funding
      • Information Systems & Data
      • Supervising Child Welfare Services
      • System Reform
      • Training
      • Workforce
    • Systemwide
      • Assessment
      • Behavioral Health & Wellness
      • Courts
      • Cultural Responsiveness
      • Diverse Populations and Communities
      • Domestic Violence
      • Human Trafficking
      • Laws & Policies
      • Service Array
      • Statistics
      • Well-Being
      • Youth
  • Publications
    • Publications Series
    • Browse by Topic
    • Browse by Title
    • índice de Títulos en Español (Spanish Title Index)
  • Library
    • Search Our Library
    • Library Policy
  • State Resources
    • State Statutes
    • National Foster Care & Adoption Directory
    • State Guides & Manuals Search
    • State-Related Organizations Lists
    • Adoption and Guardianship Assistance by State
  • More Tools & Resources
    • Related Organizations
    • Learning Center
    • Resources From the Children's Bureau
      • Children's Bureau Discretionary Grants
      • Children's Bureau Timeline
      • Children's Bureau Video Series
      • The Children's Bureau Legacy: Ensuring the Right to Childhood
      • The Story of the Children's Bureau
    • Child Welfare Information Gateway Podcast Series
    • Multimedia
      • Videos
      • Webinars
    • Family Engagement Inventory
  • News & Events
    • Adoption Triad
    • Free Subscriptions
    • Children's Bureau Express (CBX)
    • The Grantee Connection
    • New on Information Gateway
    • New From the Children's Bureau
    • Event Calendar
  • Home
  • Topics
  • Out-of-Home Care
  • Foster Care
  • OPPLA/APPLA

OPPLA/APPLA

Other planned permanent living arrangement (OPPLA), also known as another planned permanent living arrangement (APPLA), is a term created by the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 to replace the term "long-term foster care." With OPPLA, the child welfare agency maintains care and custody of the youth and arranges a living situation in which the youth is expected to remain until adulthood. OPPLA or APPLA is a permanency option only when other options such as reunification, relative placement, adoption, or legal guardianship have been ruled out.

Find information and resources about the use of OPPLA or APPLA as a permanency option for youth in foster care, including State and local examples.

Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997
Children's Bureau, Administration for Children & Families, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Provides the text of the ASFA of 1997.

Implementing the Older Youth Permanency Provisions of the Strengthening families Act: The Court's Role
Pokempner (2016)
American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law
Reviews the provisions for older youth in foster care in the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, which made changes to another planned permanent living arrangement.

Issue Brief: The Role of the Court in Implementing the Older Youth Provisions of the Strengthening Families Act (PDF - 650 KB)
American Bar Association (2016)
Provides information on how courts can successfully implement the provisions of the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act that relate to older youth, including the changes to the use of another planned permanent living arrangement.

The Multisite Accelerated Permanency Project: Permanency Roundtables as a Strategy to Help Older Youth in Foster Care Achieve Legal Permanency
White, Corwin, Buher, O'Brien , DiLorenzo, Kelly,  & Morgan (2015)
Journal of Social Service Research, 41(3)
Explores the use of permanency roundtables to achieve legal permanency for older youth. Findings showed that 1 year after the roundtables, 8.5 percent of the youth had achieved permanency. Other benefits included increased staff understanding of the importance of legal permanency and the identification of strategies to address barriers to achieving legal permanency.

Pathways to Permanency: Collaborating on the APPLA Provisions of P.L. 113-183 [Infographic] (PDF - 167 KB)
Capacity Building Center for States & Center for Courts (2016)
Describes how agencies and courts can work together to effectively use "another planned permanent living arrangements" (APPLA) within Federal statutory mandates and guidelines, including describing the circumstances that must be documented by agencies and found by courts when APPLA is used.

Pathways to Permanency: Expanding on Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA) Provisions and Youth Engagement to Improve Permanency (PDF - 225 KB)
Capacity Building Center for States (2017)
Defines child welfare agency and court responsibilities related to the APPLA provisions of P.L. 113–183 and provides background information on the purpose of APPLA and the importance of youth engagement and voice in permanency planning.

Permanency Planning
Better Care Network
Provides a variety of articles on the process of preparing children and youth for out-of-home placements.

Permanency Planning Goal
Lawyers for Children
Outlines expectations for youth leaving foster care and making a permanency plan.

Youth Transitioning From Foster Care 2007
American Bar Association
Outlines the American Bar Association's (ABA's) policy recommendations related to Federal and State law and policy affecting youth in foster care transitioning to adult independence

State and local examples

Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA) Subcommittee
Nebraska Children's Commission 
Highlights Nebraska's APPLA subcommittee, which focuses on how youth can transition from care, especially those with independent living as their permanency goal. The goals of the subcommittee are including more youth voice in determining and achieving permanency goals, using a team approach to permanency goals, promoting APPLA best practices, and more. 

APPLA
Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange (2019) 
Reviews APPLA and when it can be determined as a youth's permanency goal in Michigan. 

Section 16: Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (PDF - 135 KB)
Oregon Department of Human Services (2015)
Explains another planned permanent living arrangement (APPLA) in Oregon, including types of APPLA plans, when APPLA can be used, the process for approval of an APPLA plan, case plans, court reviews, permanency reviews, and more.

(Back to Top)

Spotlight On

Concurrent Planning for Timely Permanency for Children
Child Welfare Information Gateway
(2021)

Related Content

Working With Children, Youth, and Families in Permanency Planning

Children’s Bureau

Child Welfare Information Gateway is a service of the

  • Children’s Bureau
  • Administration for Children and Families
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
↑ Back to top
  • HOME
  • TOPICS
    • Family-Centered Practice
    • Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Supporting & Preserving Families
    • Out-of-Home Care
    • Achieving & Maintaining Permanency
    • Adoption
    • Management & Supervision
    • Systemwide
  • National Initiatives
    • National Adoption Month
    • National Child Abuse Prevention Month
    • National Foster Care Month
  • Publications
    • Publications Series
    • Browse by Title
    • Browse by Topic
    • Índice de Títulos en Español
  • Library
    • Search the Library
  • State Resources
    • State Statutes
    • National Foster Care & Adoption Directory
    • State Guides & Manuals
    • State Related Organizations Lists
    • Adoption Assistance by State
  • More Tools & Resources
    • Related Organizations
    • Learning Center
    • Children's Bureau Resources
    • Family Engagement Inventory
  • NEWS AND EVENTS
    • New on Information Gateway
    • New From the Children's Bureau
    • Free Subscriptions
    • Event Calendar
  • ABOUT US
    • How to Report Child Abuse or Neglect
    • Find Help With a Personal Situation
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Glossary
    • Search A to Z
  • Contact Us
    • 1-800-394-3366
    • info@childwelfare.gov
    • Subscribe to Free Updates
    • Chat With Us
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on YouTube
  • POLICIES & HELPFUL LINKS
    • Disclaimer and Policies
    • Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility
    • FOIA requests
    • No FEAR Act data
    • Office of the Inspector General
    • Performance reports
    • Vulnerability Disclosure Policy
    • USA.gov
    • Download Acrobat Reader
  • ↑ Back to top