Permanency and Placement Plans

Any child in the Department=s custody must have a Permanency Plan and a Placement Plan. On the Permanency Plan screen, the worker defines what the permanent plan for the child will be, develops a concurrent plan for the child and documents the reasoning behind the goal of the plan. The Permanency Plan must be completed before the Placement Plan screen will unlock. The Placement Plan documents the most appropriate placement setting for the child, addresses parental involvement in the placement, and describes how this placement plan facilitates achievement of the permanency plan.

 

Placement/Select Client /Show/Perm Plan - Show

 

Permanency Plan Screen

 

General Information tab

The Creation Date is automatically populated by the system but you can change it if needed. When the permanency plan has been completed you would return to the plan and enter the Actual Completion Date. (See Review of Permanency Plan Desk below for instructions on completing reviews.) The Staff Name and Staff County fields are populated by the system based on who is logged onto the system.

 

Permanency Plan tab

From the picklist choose the goal of the plan. This is a mandatory field so it must be completed. Record why the placement meets the needs of the Permanency Plan. Identify steps needed to Achieve Permanency Plan. Be sure and complete the Sibling Information section. If there are no siblings, choose >Child does not have siblings= from the Siblings Placement picklist. If the plan is for adoption, Describe Efforts to Legally Free the Child. In the text box record the child=s placement preferences when sufficient age is reached. If adoption is not the permanency plan, describe why in the text box. In the Reasonable Efforts Made For Finding a Permanent Placement use the select box to show the reasonable efforts made. In the Barriers section use the select box to choose the Barriers Against Permanency Plan. Be sure and describe each selected barrier.

 

Concurrent Permanency Plan tab

If Reunification has been selected as the permanency plan, a Concurrent Permanency Plan is mandatory. However, it is good practice to always have a concurrent plan in case you are unable to achieve the permanency plan. From the picklist choose the concurrent plan In the text fields record the Reasons why Placement meets Concurrent Permanency Plan needs and Identify steps needed to Achieve Concurrent permanency Plan. Using the select box, reflect any Barriers Against Concurrent Permanency Plan. Be sure and describe each Barrier selected. Once you have completed all the fields on the screen, click on the Add command button. A pop up box will appear advising the Permanency Plan will become read only. If you forgot to record anything on the Plan, you need to click the No and add whatever information is needed or correct any information that is wrong. If the Permanency Plan is as you want, click on the Yes button. A pop up box will appear advising a new Placement Plan has to be created. Click on the OK button.

 

Placement Plan Screen

The intent of the screen is to reflect the determination fo the most appropriate placement plan for a child in the custody of the Department regardless of the current placement unless the current placement is judged to be the most appropriate. If a Permanency Plan has not been completed, the system will not let you create a Placement Plan.

 

Click on the Place Plan toolbar button. A Select Placement Plan Response Window will appear. If you are creating a new Placement Plan, click on the New Plan command button. The Placement Plan Family Information screen will appear. The Placement Plan Creation Date is system populated but can be changed.

 

In the Most Appropriate Placement Setting section, choose the Placement Type from the picklist. In the text box, document efforts made to place the child with relatives. In the Parental Information section use the picklists to reflect Anticipated Parent Involvement and Parental Attitude Towards Agency Intervention.

 

The Permanency Plan and Concurrent Permanency Plan fields are populated by the system from the Permanency Plan screen. In the text box at the bottom of the screen, describe how the placement facilitates achievement of the permanency plan.

 

After all information has been entered on the screen, click on the Add command button.

 

Review of Permanency Plans

Once created, the permanency plan needs to be periodically reviewed. Reviews occur at a minimum of every 90 days.

 

There are several ways to review a permanency plan. The option you select will depend on whether you want to swap the permanency plan with the concurrent plan, essentially create a new plan, or just slightly modify the existing plan. To review the permanency plan in your case, bring up the existing permanency plan by using the following navigation:

 

Placement/Select Client /Show/Perm Plan - Show

 

Here are the options on how to complete the review:

 

If you only want to slightly modify the existing plan, you click on >Copy=. You will receive a message stating >A Permanency Plan exists with no revised date, that plan revised date will be populated as today=s date and a new plan will be created, continue?= Click 'Yes'. This creates a copy of the existing permanency plan, and the system will populate today's date as the revised date. You then make whatever minor changes that need to be made on the Permanency Plan tab and on the Concurrent Permanency Plan tab. Click on >Add=.

 

If you bring up the existing plan, enter a revised date and click on 'Change', and you have a concurrent plan, you will be asked, 'do you want to swap Concurrent Plan to Permanency Plan?=. Worker needs to make this decision. If you decided to swap the plans, you should select a new concurrent plan (good practice) although this is not mandatory. The system populates the new creation date and then the worker need to complete the information on the tabs and click on 'Add'.

 

If you do not want to swap the plans in the above situation, click >No=. Worker then needs to select the permanency plan and the concurrent plan for this revised Permanency Plan, complete all the fields and click on >Add=.