Permanency Planning Options Backgrounder
Child welfare services are focused on protecting children while enhancing and expanding long-term planning and permanency options for children receiving services from child welfare agencies in Ontario.
Admission Prevention – The initial focus of child welfare work is on ensuring child safety while maintaining the child in the family home whenever possible. Child welfare agencies and social workers provide support to families to prevent the child from coming into care initially; if a child does come into care, agencies and workers continue to provide support so that the family, if possible, can be re-united. This support and assistance for families could include temporary financial assistance for clothing, rent, or transportation, counseling services and connecting families with community services and supports from extended family.
Kinship Service – If a child is unable to remain in his/her immediate family’s care, outreach to extended family/kin is an option which must be considered and explored. These families are assessed in accordance with MCYS provincial foster care standards and regulations. The child is not in the formal care of the child welfare agency, though the agency continues to work with the family. The child is placed with a member of his/her extended family or with a community member known to the child. The goal of kinship service arrangements may be reunification of the child with his or her family and/or a permanent home with an extended family member through legal custody. While child welfare agencies don’t provide ongoing financial support in this situation, the extended family or community member may be eligible for Temporary Care Assistance through Ontario Works, which may include prescription drugs, dental and vision care, back-to-school and winter clothing allowance, and episodic financial support from the child welfare agency.
Kinship Care – When a child must be admitted to the care of a child welfare agency, a spectrum of resources may be considered. Children are placed in family settings wherever possible. Some children are able to be placed in kinship care. Kinship families are assessed and supervised in accordance with MCYS provincial foster care standards and regulations. Child welfare agencies will assess available support from the community and other family members, and provide ongoing financial assistance to support the needs of the child in the extended family’s home until the child returns to the parent(s) or a plan for a long-term or permanent home for the child has been established. Payments will not exceed the regular foster care rate (approximately $900 per month).
Customary Care – Customary Care is part of the continuum of care options for Aboriginal children. Customary Care is a model of Aboriginal child welfare service that is culturally relevant and incorporates the unique traditions and customs of each First Nation. Customary Care is a traditional method of caring for children, premised on the belief that a child is a sacred gift from the Creator and as such is the collective responsibility of the community. Customary Care Agreements are utilized when protection concerns in a family require out-of-home placement. A Customary Care home must comply with all requirements of foster care licensing after 60 days, if that person is willing and able to continue providing a safe place for the child.
Legal Custody – This is an option to provide legal guardianship of a child to a parent, extended family member, community member or resource parents. This option is designed to address the special challenges for families who make a permanent commitment to care for a child, by providing subsidies and supports, which are identified as key factors in achieving the goal of permanency in other jurisdictions and in research. The child welfare agency may provide financial support to help meet the needs of the child and family. Policy guidelines for legal custody agreements will be developed by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services as part of the implementation planning for the change agenda.
Foster Care – The child is in the care of the child welfare agency (temporary care agreement, society wardship or Crown wardship) and placed with a foster family. This placement option is designed for short-term care. Some children have special needs that would require more intensive care, which may include specialized foster homes, group homes, etc. In some situations, foster parents may adopt or become the legal guardians of a child who has been in their home, when such a plan is in the child’s best interest. Strengthening foster care initiatives include improved assessment, training and ongoing support for foster parents and funding flexibility to invest in improved supports to foster homes that provide specialized care such as children’s mental health, respite and educational supports.
Adoption – Adoption provides the child with a family for a lifetime, often called a “forever family”. A child who is adopted has the same status and rights as if he/she were born into the family. The provincial Adoption Strategy is designed to move towards an adoption system with common standards, tools, training and best practices for the public and private sector adoption practitioners. Collaborative practice and service delivery between the public and private adoption sectors is helping to achieve this goal. Initiatives in adoption include: openness agreements; use of mediation; strategies to increase public awareness; a provincial child matching data base (an AdoptOntario service funded by MCYS); a standard homestudy assessment tool (SAFE) and training and retention program (PRIDE) for public, private and international adoptive applicants; clinical supports; and adoption subsidies.
Goals of Permanency Strategy include:
- Improved public awareness of the need for adoptive families
- More adoption placements for children and youth in care
- Permanent placements (“Forever Families”) for all children
Youth Exiting Care – Supporting youth leaving care is a critical element of planning for the future of children and youth. Under the 1994 MCSS (now MCYS) guidelines, youth over age 18 are eligible for extended care and maintenance funding of $663 per month (a figure well below established poverty lines), and emotional support until they reach the age of 21, if they are pursuing post-secondary education. In 2005-06, a committee comprised of youth, child welfare agencies, OACAS and Ministry staff developed policy recommendations to better support youth leaving care. The youth recommendations addressed preparation for independence; eligibility for financial support, and the support of a youth worker following a youth’s exit from care up to age 25; and better attention to the emotional needs of youth. These recommendations were presented to MCYS in April, 2006. These recommendations were also echoed in the 2007 report of the Child Advocate (We Are Your Sons and Daughters). The child welfare field is still waiting for policy direction from the Ministry.
A committee of child welfare agency Finance Managers has also reviewed the current funding mechanisms for youth exiting care and has drafted a report of their recommendations for MCYS with similar findings.