The Path to Permanency

Melissa D. CarterCommittee on Justice for ChildrenParent Attorney ConferenceMay 8-9, 2007

The movement to a outcome based system means that child welfare professionals must find ways to

incorporate their good clinical skills with a outcomes management

approach.

This training will focus on achieving timely permanency.

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STRATEGIC PLANNINGOUTCOME: The final result you are trying to achieve (or that was achieved)

Example: Finalized Adoption

OBJECTIVE: A required or recommended interim goal toward the achievement of the desired outcome.

Example: Termination of parental rights

ACTION STEP: Plans, conversations, reports, court appearances and decisions that are undertaken to achieve objectives.

Example: Diligent search for parents

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Group Exercise

• What does “Permanency” mean?

Achieving Permanency

• The essence of permanency outcomes is to reduce the length of time to achieve permanent living arrangements while ensuring that children receive consistent, stable care.

• What is your role in this process?

Permanency Hearings

•What are they?–Represents a deadline for the court to determine the final plan that will move the child out of temporary foster care and into a permanent home

•Review Hearing “Plus”

Review Hearing– Consider the safety of the child– Examine the need for and appropriateness

of placement– Review compliance w/ the case plan and

determine extent to which reasons for removal have been alleviated

– Set a projected date for permanency, consider all barriers to achievement of goal, fine-tune

– Modify visitation if necessary– Seek relative resources

Permanency Hearing

All of the above PLUS:– Choose the plan by systematically ruling out more

permanent options– Consider the health and well-being of the child– Order the next steps necessary to achieve the

permanent plan– Rule on whether the agency has made RE to finalize

the permanent plan– If the child remains in foster care, seek connections for

the child

What Triggers a Permanency Hearing?

• 3 scenarios:– (1) Judicial Determination that RE are not required

(O.C.G.A. §15-11-58(a)(5))– (2) Submission of a plan that does not contain a plan

for reunification services (O.C.G.A. §15-11-58(e))– (3) In anticipation of child’s 12th month in care

(O.C.G.A. §15-11-58(o)(1)) and not less than every 12 months thereafter during the time the child remains in DFCS custody

Permanency Hearings in GA • Must be held within 30 days after a judicial

determination that RE are not required to be made– Subjected the child to aggravated circumstances which,

including but not limited to abandonment, torture, chronic abuse, and sexual abuse;

– Committed murder of another child of the parent;– Been convicted of the murder of the other parent of the child;– Committed voluntary manslaughter of another child of the

parent;– Aided or abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited to commit

murder or voluntary manslaughter of another child of the parent; or

– Committed a felony assault that results in serious bodily injury to the child or another child of the parent; or

– The parental rights of the parent to a sibling have been terminated involuntarily

Permanency Hearings in GA (cont’d)• Required to be held within 30 days from submission of “non-

reunification” plan • Legal Standard: Clear and convincing evidence that

reunification efforts detrimental to the child. Referral to TPR/adoption not in BIOC

• Presumption that RE should not be provided when:– Parent unjustifiable failed to comply w/ previously ordered

reunification plan– Child removed on 2 previous occasions and reunification

services were provided– Grounds for TPR exist– Circumstances listed in § 15-11-58(4) exist, making RE to

reunify unnecessary• Available dispositional options: relative, non-related individual,

suitable individual in another state, agency or organization operated like a “family home”

Permanency Hearings in GA (cont’d)

• No later than 12 months after the child is considered to have entered foster care

• Thereafter, at least every 12 months during the time the child continues in custody

• May be held at the time of a hearing on a motion to extend custody– BUT, a permanency hearing is more than a

hearing on the motion

DFCS’ Permanency Plan (O.C.G.A. §15-11-58(o)(2))• At the time of the permanency hearing, DFCS

shall submit a report recommending a permanency plan for the child– Whether/when child shall be:

• returned to the parent(s);• referred for TPR and adoption;• referred for legal guardianship*;• placed permanently w/ a fit and willing relative*; or• placed in another planned permanent living arrangement

(APPLA)– DFCS provides “compelling reason” that no other option is in

BIOC

Reasonable Efforts to Reach Permanency

• To place the child in a timely manner in accordance w/ the permanency plan and to complete whatever steps are necessary to finalize the permanent placement of the child (O.C.G.A. §§15-11-58(a)(5), (o)(6)).

• Finding made at every permanency hearing

• Concurrent planning

The Court’s Permanency Order (O.C.G.A. §15-11-58(n)(5) and (6))• The court enters a supplemental order

incorporating:– the permanency goal, – findings of fact regarding RE to finalize the permanency

plan in effect at the time of the hearing, – findings of fact regarding whether (if applicable) an

out-of-state placement continues to be appropriate and in the BIOC, and

– in the case of a child age 14+, a determination of services needed to assist the child to make a transition from foster care to independent living

Other voices (O.C.G.A. §15-11-58(p))• Child/youth must be consulted• Foster parents, preadoptive parents, and

relatives providing care for the child – All foster care proceedings– Court shall include findings of fact reflecting

consideration of oral and written testimony– 5 days advance notice for permanency hearings

“Listen to us. Find out what our style is. Talk to other people that know us, if we say it’s okay. Check with us about things. Remember the motto, ‘Nothing About Me Without Me!’ Don’t make choices for us or make fun of us. Know that we have thoughts, feelings, and ideas just like you.”Sara Erstad-Landis, “What I Would Like to Say to Lawyers,” Youth Law News

Poetic - Ronald, age 18

To review … • Permissible permanency plans:

– Reunification– TPR/Adoption– Permanent placement w/ fit and willing relative– Another planned permanent living arrangement

(APPLA)

• Order of preference

Reunification• Preferred permanency plan• Safety is paramount concern• Case plan compliance

– Primary and secondary goals

TPR/Adoption• Grounds for TPR : O.C.G.A. § 15-11-94

– Clear and convincing evidence of parental misconduct or inability AND BIOC

• Voluntary surrender• Failure to comply w/ order of support for 12 months• Abandonment• Parental Misconduct or Inability (Deprivation, caused by lack

of parental care and control, likely to continue, will cause serious harm to the child)

– Noncompliance with case plan for 12 months– Failure to provide care and support for child for 12 months– Failure to develop and maintain parental bond in meaningful,

supportive manner for 12 month• Parent convicted of murder of child’s other parent

TPR/Adoption (cont’d)

• 15/22 month rule (and exceptions)– Placement w/ relatives

• Identification of adoptive resource?• Adoption Assistance Benefits

Permanent Placement w/ Relative

• Preference for placement w/ relative (O.C.G.A. §15-11-103(a)(1))– Diligent search

• Subsidies• Residual parental rights

Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA)• Characteristics:

– Permanent;– Stability, predictability, continuity– Stable and enduring relationship w/ adult(s)

• Compelling reasons– Examples:

• Older teen specifically requests emancipation as permanency plan;

• Parent and child have significant bond but parent is unable to care for the child due to disability and foster parents have committed to providing long-term care and facilitating visitation;

• No general categories; case-by-case determination based on individual facts and circumstances

Case Scenario• 3 year old whose biological mother has a

substance abuse problem. • The biological father is unknown. • The child has lived in the same non-relative

foster home for the past two years she has been in care.

• What is the permanency goal that is most likely to be pursued?

• What additional information is needed to determine the permanency goal for this case?

Case Scenarios (cont’d)

• Sibling group, ages 6, 9, and 14, have been in foster care w/ Mr. and Mrs. J. for 3 years. They visit regularly w/ their biological mother.

• The agency is not pursuing TPR. The children are bonded w/ Mr. and Mrs. J. who have committed to caring for the children on a permanent basis.

• APPLA: “permanent foster care w/ Mr. and Mrs. J.”

What’s YOUR role in the Path to Permanency?• Melissa D. Carter

– Supreme Court of Georgia Committee on Justice for Children

– Tel: 404/463-6383– Em: carterm@gaaoc.us