There are some unique challenges in working with children, youth, and families to achieve permanency. Depending on the jurisdiction and setting in which professionals work, these challenges may include laws, policies, or lack of specialized education and training for supporting permanency efforts. The following resources explore a variety of challenges frontline workers, managers, and administrators may face as they work to achieve permanency for the children, youth, and families they serve and offer strategies for eliminating the barriers they may encounter throughout the process. Resources include State and local examples.
Eliminating Barriers to the Adoption of Children in Foster Care (PDF - 225 KB)
Kamarck, Wilson, Hansen, & Katz (2012)
Summarizes a discussion among adoption and policy experts about barriers to adoption, the Federal role in encouraging adoption, and developing concrete strategies to eliminate identified barriers.
Permanency Innovations Initiative (PII) Project Resources
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau (2014)
Provides information and resources about the Permanency Innovations Initiative (PII), a multisite Federal demonstration project designed to improve permanency outcomes among children in foster care who have the most serious barriers to permanency.
Georgia Permanency Roundtables
Casey Family Programs
Describes a project in Georgia to develop a permanency plans for each child, stimulate thinking and learning about permanency, and identify and address barriers to permanency.
State and local examples
Barriers to Achieving Permanency for Children in Long-Term Adoption or Guardianship Placements in the District of Columbia: Study Report (PDF - 248 KB)
Foster and Adoptive Parent Advocacy Center (2009)
Discusses the findings of a study in the District of Columbia that investigated why children in long-term placements who have a goal of adoption or guardianship are not moving forward to achieve permanency.
Finding Permanent Homes (PDF - 3,971 KB)
Nebraska Foster Care Review Board & Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (2009)
Summarizes findings from a study of Nebraskan children and youth regarding the barriers to finding them permanent homes. The study focused on parental compliance and placement issues, and the report presents positive results, concerns, and lessons learned.
Permanency Roundtable Project: Process Evaluation Report (PDF - 923 KB)
Care Solutions, Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, & Casey Family Programs (2009)
Describes how Casey Family Programs worked with the Georgia Department of Human Services to address permanency for children who had been in foster care for long periods of time.
Using Evidence to Support Practice Change Initiatives: Case Resolution Meetings (PDF - 229 KB)
Partners for Our Children (2011)
Highlights the case resolution meeting, which brings together key players in a case to identify barriers to permanency for children who have been in care longer than 15 months and to brainstorm pathways to permanency for these children.