Early Permanence
We need adoptive parents who can take on the responsibility of becoming foster carers to a child, with the chance of going on to adopt them later, if the court decides that child should be adopted.
What is Early Permanence?
Early Permanence (EP) is an umbrella term for a type of care planning which helps a child who needs be cared for outside of their family to find a safe, stable, and home as quickly as possible. EP can be used for children of all ages who are in the care of the local authority, where there is a strong likelihood of the child needing a care plan for adoption.
National adoption data shows most children go on to be adopted, but a small proportion will return to the care of their birth family.
“It is in the child’s best interests to grow up in their own birth family or with people connected to the family, whenever it is safe and possible to do so. If this is the final outcome of the Early Permanence placement this is a positive outcome for the child.”
Find out more about adopting through Early Permanence watch this 20 min film.
What are the benefits of Early Permanence?
Early Permanence shifts the uncertainty about future placements from the child, to the adults and provides protection for the child against the impact of delay.
With EP, a child is placed with approved adopters who have been assessed and approved as temporary foster carers. These EP carers provide the day-to-day care for the children and work with the children’s social work teams to ensure that the children have all their needs met in a fostering arrangement.
Children who are in the care system from a very young age often experience multiple changes of foster carers while the court reaches a decision about who will care for them in the long term. EP protects children from experiencing multiple moves. It provides children with uninterrupted and consistent care while detailed assessments are completed, and decisions are made about the best plan for the children. EP provides stability and security for a child and can minimise disruption by the early placement of a child with foster carers who may go on to adopt them if the court decides that it is in the child’s best interests.
EP offers children the possibility of developing a secure attachment from the earliest possible moment, which is key to their emotional, physical and mental development.
Contact with the birth family
It is expected that the EP carers will help to ensure that the child has regular supervised family time (also known as contact) with their birth family, while the court assessments are completed. This is usually around three times a week. The EP carers will take the child to all family time meetings, to enable the child to meet regular with the significant birth family members; to maintain a relationship.
“Birth mum recognised that her situation meant that she was not the person that would be able to give that child the life that she knew it deserved and I can’t imagine what it took for her to reach out and she remained committed to the process throughout.”
Keeping some form of contact with a birth family benefits everyone involved and can help to provide personal history, which is vital to a child’s developing sense of identity and helps them to integrate the past with the present.
Click here for more information about the importance of maintaining contact with birth family members.
Being realistic about what could happen
Early Permanence comes with the chance that a child may return to their birth family. You would have to manage this uncertainty while the court reaches a final decision based on the best interest for that child. EP carers need to prepare themselves and their family for the possibility of the child returning to their birth family. They will need to work together with the court, social workers and the child’s local authority in the most sensitive way for the child. Throughout this time a support network will be important to you.
Listen here to Early Permanence: A Route to Adoption with Pandora Christie. In this podcast episode from You Can Adopt, radio DJ Pandora Christie who was herself, fostered as a child, speaks to guest Jonny about his experience of adopting through EP. This episode explores their experiences of fostering and adoption via EP, with a particular focus on the benefits for the child.
Could you be an Early Permanence carer?
The children considered for EP are some of the most vulnerable in the care system. To be an EP carer, you need to be able to prioritise a child’s needs and give them the precious gift of stability at a time of great uncertainty in their lives.
We only work with children where, due to the birth family’s circumstances, there is a reasonable probability that adoption is the considered care plan, however there can be no guarantees that this will be the outcome. It is the court that makes the final decision, and there will be occasions when it is decided that it is in the child’s best interest to be returned to their birth family.
Please read our article ‘Early Permanence carers needed across London‘ to hear about some of the qualities required from Early Permanence carers. If it would help, we can arrange for you to talk to other adopters who have provided EP placements, to give you more of an idea of how this type of placement might impact on your family. Why not sign up to attend any of our Adoption Information Sessions.
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