Permanency Plan The permanency plan is an essential tool used to help comprehensively assess child and family needs and identify goals, services and supports needed when a child is in out-of-home care placement. This includes like kinship (like-kin) or foster care placement. The permanency plan spells out specific steps a family must take to move toward reunification with their children. In the last year, DCF consulted with families that use the permanency plan through a Human Centered Design process. The process included engagement with county and tribal child welfare workers and supervisors, foster youth, relatives, judicial and legal partners. This led to a broad range of recommendations that are being implemented. Changes include: Streamlined plan More user-friendly Trauma-informed Clearer permanency goals Strength-based language Improvements have also been made to more efficiently identify and serve Indian children. Many of these changes will be accomplished through a redesign of the state eWiSACWIS system.
