Legal Permanency: 3 Reasons Why It Is Important For Children In Foster Care
From job titles to case files, the word “permanency” carries a heavy weight for all involved in the child welfare system. To fully grasp the significance, we must define “permanency” and the options available for youth lingering in foster care.
The Child Welfare Information Gateway defines permanency as a permanent, stable living situation, ideally one in which birth family connections are preserved. Options include:
Reunification: Reunification is the primary goal when any child is placed in foster care. This permanency option involves safely returning a child to their biological family only after the issues that led to their placement in the system have been addressed.
Adoption: Adoption is a binding legal court order that brings a child into a family and grants them all the rights and privileges of one’s biological child. An adoption grants rights and familial status even after a child turns 18. Even though an adopted child is seen as a legal child of the adoptive parents, adoption should not sever a child’s connections to their birth family when they are safe to keep.
Legal Guardianship / Conservatorship: Legal guardianship or conservatorship appoints an adult, or couple, to assume legal responsibility for the child until they turn 18 while maintaining legal ties to their birth parents. This option can be pursued when a biological family member or non-family member in the child’s network has stepped forward to care for that child. While the Foundation believes adoption is preferable in most cases — as it provides a lifelong, legally permanent family for a child waiting in foster care — we recognize that legal guardianship is the best permanency option for some youth.
While discussing legal permanency options, it is also necessary to address Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA). Despite its designation as a permanency option within the child welfare system, APPLA often falls short in providing the stability and support youth need throughout their entire life. Children in APPLA too often age out of foster care as the system is no longer required to make reasonable efforts to reunify the child with biological parents or look for a legally permanent placement. Due to its temporary nature and the likelihood that youth in this status will age out, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption does not accept APPLA as a legal permanency option for youth in foster care.
We believe legal permanency is possible and critically important for every child waiting in foster care. Here are three reasons why:
1. Reduce the negative impacts on youth who would otherwise age out of foster care.
According to research from the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, young people who age out of care are often at a higher risk of experiencing negative outcomes, including:
Homelessness: Approximately 20% of youth who age out without a permanent family at age 18 will be homeless.
Unemployment: Only 50% of youth who age out will be employed at age 24.
Mental health challenges: 1 in 4 youth will experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), equal to or higher than U.S. military veterans.
These realities highlight the essential security and stability that a legally permanent family brings to a young person as they navigate adulthood.
2. Establish legal rights granted to permanent family.
There has been increasing focus on relational permanency as an option for children who have stability within a foster placement and can remain in the home until they age out of the system. While the Foundation recognizes the importance of helping youth nurture strong, lifelong relationships, we do not believe that relational permanency is an acceptable long-term permanency option because a child has no legal ties to that family unit, as they would through adoption or reunification.
Not having those legal rights could affect youth in many ways, including limiting their medical access or decision-making authority in support of loved ones or excluding them from potential distributions from a loved one’s estates.
3. Nurture a sense of belonging and provide lifelong support.
If you attended college, who did you go see on breaks? When your first love broke your heart, who did you rely on for comfort? When you encountered a challenging situation for the first time as a young adult out on your own, who did you turn to for support? Did you notice these questions all include a “who,” not a “what”?
As humans, one of our core emotions is to feel a sense of belonging. Whether it is wanting to be part of a certain crowd at school or participating on a team, we desire to belong in social settings. Now, imagine if those social settings extended deeper into a family unit.
Kenya, who was adopted from foster care by her aunt at age 15, found new confidence once she was part of a permanent family.
A 2022 survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of the Foundation revealed that 30% of Americans feel youth who do not achieve permanency by the time they are adults will be fine on their own, which research has shown is not the case for young people who age out of foster care.
It is natural to turn to important people in our lives for guidance. Melinda Haggerty, Senior Vice President, General Counsel at the Foundation, who was adopted as an adult, shared: “The impact that adult adoption had on my life cannot be understated. It meant a home to return to during summer breaks in college and a place to go for much-needed advice and support as a young adult.”
You are never too old for family. But every day, more than 50 teens age out of foster care in the United States. As advocates for child welfare — be it professionals, caregivers or community members — we share a collective responsibility to help ensure that every child has the best possible opportunity for a bright future with a safe, loving and permanent family by their side.
Hear more stories of how child welfare professionals are working to make permanency possible for every child waiting in foster care … no matter their story.
