About Early Permanence
Early Permanence (EP) aims to place children with prospective adopters on a foster carer basis while the courts are still considering whether they can safely return to their family or whether they might need to be adopted. The practice aims to limit the number of placements and feelings of uncertainty that many children in care experience. The practice is considered to be in the best interest of children by providing them with stability and a sense of permanency as early as possible.
Early Permanence placements are not the same as traditional foster care placements and you need to be aware of the differences to help you effectively carry out your role and ensure children and EP carers are safe and supported.
What are Early Permanence Placements and how do they differ from traditional foster care?
Early Permanence placements (sometimes called concurrent placements or fostering for adoption) are those where a child is placed with approved adopters who are approved as and willing to act as foster carers for the child whilst the courts decide on the final plan for the child. They take on the uncertainty that the final outcome for the child is not yet known (although current indicators would point to a likely need for adoption) and that the child may return to their family. However, if at the end of the legal proceedings the court agrees with the plan for adoption and the EP carers are formally matched with the child, they can go on to adopt the child. This protects the child from further moves and disruptions. The personal and long-term emotional investment in the child by the EP carers is therefore significantly different from that of traditional temporary foster carers. It is this context that needs to be understood to appropriately work with such carers.
How will I know a child is in an Early Permanence Placement?
Unless social workers or the Early Permanence carers inform you of this (and give you this leaflet) you may not know. But once you are informed it is good practice for this to be noted and for there to be systems in place for all staff (including admin.) to understand the potential for data breaches (see below) and adjust their practice accordingly.
Confidentiality and Data Breaches
It is very important that the birth parents do not know the personal details of the EP carers (e.g. last names, addresses - even the general vicinity of their address, telephone numbers or any other identifying details such as their profession). These placements differ from traditional foster placements as the child may go on to be adopted by these carers and their long-term security and stability needs to be ensured. Whilst increasingly some parents may go on to have direct contact with the adopters, this has not yet been decided. Health care systems are particularly vulnerable to data breaches and these can occur within GP surgeries, hospital appointments or community-based practice. There have been instances where parents have gained access to addresses and telephone numbers of EP carers in all of these settings. Therefore, it is good practice to mark files of children in such placements and make sure all staff understand the need for strict confidentiality and the additional risks of data breaches.
It is important to remember that although the EP carers will potentially adopt the child, they only become prospective adopters if the Court grants a placement order. This may never happen as the outcome of Court may be that the child returns to a parent or family member. EP carers do not have parental responsibility and are not part of the Court proceedings. Therefore, the only medical information they should be given would be that which directly belongs to the child and has implications for their current and long terms care needs. If you have any queries about what to share, please contact the child’s social worker or your local Medical Advisor.
The importance of sensitivity
Although EP carers are carrying out the role of a foster carer, they hope, if it is in the best interests of the child, to adopt the child they are caring for. EP carers often refer to EP placements as like a “rollercoaster” – one-minute things look like the child could be positively returned to their family, the next minute it looks like the child may need a plan for adoption. Therefore, even simple comments may generate a lot of emotion or uncertainty for EP carers.
Significant information about the health of a child (and any long-term prognosis) should be delivered with the knowledge that these carers are hugely emotionally invested in the child and hope to parent them for life, if that’s best for the child. There have been examples of EP carers being informed about a child’s serious long term health conditions with no appreciation that they were anything more than temporary carers for the child and that the information being shared would be very difficult for them to manage emotionally.
EP carers want what is best for the child, and understand that this is returning to their family if they can provide ‘good enough’ care. Therefore they are balancing that they may only ever be a foster carer for the child, whilst bonding with the child and preparing themselves that the child could be with them permanently. This is very different to a traditional foster carer who has made a clear decision to provide children with care until they can either return to their family or move to a longer-term permanence option such as long-term foster care or adoption.
Working with the child’s parents
As a parent, having your child removed from your care is a traumatic experience and the subsequent legal processes can leave parents feeling alienated, judged and side-lined. Health professionals will need to work with parents as well as EP carers throughout proceedings and can help by acknowledging the status and parental responsibilities of the parents and the emotional challenges they are facing. If a child is in an EP placement it is important to remember that the court has not yet made the final decision about what is the right permanency outcome for that child.
Information for Health Visitors
Health Visitors can play a vital role in supporting EP carers as they care for young and vulnerable children. It can be helpful to bear in mind that many EP carers may not have experienced being directly responsible for the care of a young baby or child before and may not have had the opportunity to benefit from ante-natal classes or groups as other first time parents might. Extra vigilance should also be taken to ensure that EP carers and parent contact details are kept separately and that there are appropriate systems in place to have these clearly marked. Health Visitors should be mindful that some email addresses and name badges can give away the general location of the child.
Medical Advisors
There is a nationally available Protocol on Sharing Medical Information in Early Permanence Planning which you should be able to access through your nearest regional adoption agency or voluntary adoption agency.