Permanency Action through Concurrent Planning

The introduction of legislation in favour of ‘permanency planning’, in 1980, led to a marked decline in the number of North American children entering the public care system for much of that decade. In recent years, however, the number of children in care in the USA has been steadily rising. A major cause of this reversal is the country's drug epidemic, which has also had a significant affect on the type of child most likely to enter the system. Linda Katz highlights a failure to respond to these and other changes, outlined below, and argues for a radical upheaval of what she sees as a grossly outdated and underfunded child welfare system. On the basis of fifteen years' experience leading the Permanency Planning Programme at the Lutheran Social Services, she strongly advocates a commitment to concurrent planning — defined here as ‘the process of working toward family reunification while at the same time establishing an alternative plan’, usually in the form of permanency with a relative or secure foster/adoption placement. Such views are supported by increasing demands for information and training on concurrent planning, both in the USA and overseas.