Credit hours:
3.00

Course Summary

For a young person in foster care, having permanence means stability and reliable, supportive lifelong connections. All youth in foster care need it. Understanding permanency and the Permanency Pact described in this course can give you confidence as you guide youth in your care towards building and strengthening relationships with supportive people in their life.

In this course, you can expect to learn:

  • The importance of permanency for youth in care

  • How young people in foster care think about permanency

  • The different types of permanent relationships and their roles in the lives of youth in care

  • The difference between positive and negative supports

  • Several ways a transitioning youth could benefit from the support of an adult

  • How to brainstorm a list of prospective Permanency Pact adults

  • How to access and create a Permanency Pact

  • The importance of understanding that permanency comes with responsibility from all people involved – including youth

Step 1

Watch the video "What Does Permanency Mean?" developed by Nebraska Children and Families Foundation to better understand what permanency means to foster youth.

Step 2

Meet the Lived Experience Leaders involved in the ACF’s All-In Youth Engagement Team, and learn from their expertise about what they would like to see for permanency in the foster care system.  Then review the All-In Youth Engagement Team’s  “Recommendations for Improving Permanency and Well-Being.”

Step 3

Review the FosterClub Permanency Pact. The Pact is designed to help foster youth identify supportive adult connections which will continue to provide positive supports through and beyond the transition from care. As a foster parent, you can introduce a young person to this tool and help them identify those continuing supports in an effort to build a strong support network.

Step 4

Watch and read how the Juvenile Law Center in Pennsylvania and its "Youth Fostering Change" program developed a "youth-perspective" toolkit for child welfare professionals that helps youth in care achieve permanency. 

Step 5

Review the following post written about the Permanency Pact by Independent Living Outreach Specialist at Children’s Aid Society Ebone Watkins.

Step 6

Review the article "Legal and Relational Permanence in Older Foster Care Youths" from Social Work Today.

Step 7

Join the discussion in the comments below to answer the following question:

How would you explain permanence to your foster youth?

Step 8

Finished the module? If you are logged in as a subscribed user, take the quiz to earn your Continuing Education Credit hours and certificate!

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Course Discussion

mslessinger's picture
6 years 3 months ago

mslessinger said:

It means forever. Forever a bond, commitment, love, etc.
ahoke21474's picture
6 years 3 months ago

ahoke21474 said:

Our adoption was our plan to get our family together after lost of family members and permanence is the key to this.
Kaaron07's picture
6 years 3 months ago

Kaaron07 said:

Permanency means knowing you are not alone and you are loved--you have a support system, a safety net to fall on when you need it, a place to call home.
Kaaron07's picture
6 years 3 months ago

Kaaron07 said:

Permanency means knowing you are not alone and you are loved--you have a support system, a safety net to fall on when you need it, a place to call home.
josegonzalez1011's picture
6 years 3 months ago

josegonzalez1011 said:

Permanency means to be there in all times, no matter how bad, a place that can be called their true home in which they can come and seek comfort and will receive it as necessary.
mariaguilen1011's picture
6 years 3 months ago

mariaguilen1011 said:

permanence means not ever wondering if you are ever going to find your forever family rather it means stability, unconditional love and a place to always call home.
qlpeterson's picture
6 years 4 months ago

qlpeterson said:

Permanacy meaning not wondering if you will always have a family. Permanacy meaning stability and unconditional love unconditional support unconditional family.
clear00007's picture
6 years 4 months ago

clear00007 said:

Permanency is such an import part to a child's life especially one who's aging out of Foster Care it is the ultimate feeling of support and security.
clear00007's picture
6 years 4 months ago

clear00007 said:

Permanency is such an import part to a child's life especially one who's aging out of Foster Care it is the ultimate feeling of support and security.
Jkeme's picture
6 years 5 months ago

Jkeme said:

Permanency is life long commitment