Children of color are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system. In 2005 they comprised 53% of the 513,000 children in out-of-home placements in the United States [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration for Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau (2006). Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting Syste...

Concurrent planning-working with families toward reunification while developing alternative permanency plans--was designed to fit an out-of-home care population much like that projected for the year 2000 and beyond: very young, chronically neglected children from multiproblem families. As large-scale programs begin to develop nationally, those implementing concurrent planning must be aware of t...

Major permanency planning-based reforms transformed the New South Wales (NSW) out-of-home care (care) system between 2012 and 2022, in face of strong, sustained opposition from First Peoples. Permanency, attachment related notions, including best interests child are all constructs central to planning crucial factors judicial decision-making about children’s permanent arrangements. Doctoral rese...

Collaborative efforts to achieve permanency planning and family stability for all children in the child welfare system are increasing. As Latino children and families constitute the fastest growing ethnic group in the child welfare system, it is important to understand how to develop culturally sensitive collaborations with their communities. The purpose of this article is to suggest helpful gu...

Despite the federal emphasis on achieving timely permanency for children who enter foster care, some children continue to remain in foster care for extended periods, with approximately 20,000 children a year "aging out" of foster care into adulthood without having achieved permanency in a family setting ( Dworsky, 2008 ). This literature review focuses on the federal Child and Family Services R...

The juvenile court's role in handling child abuse and neglect cases changed and expanded greatly after the passage of the federal Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act in 1980 and following the enactment of many similar state laws. These federal and state "permanency planning" laws require child welfare agencies to make reasonable efforts to avoid the break-up of families, where safe and pr...