Permanency
Permanency is about belonging, stability, and continuity. It focuses on giving children confidence about where they will live, who will care for them, and who will make decisions about their lives, both now and in the future.
Children’s Services’ primary aim is to support children and young people to remain living safely with their parents wherever possible. Where this is not achievable, permanency may be secured through legal orders such as Special Guardianship Orders, Child Arrangements Orders, or adoption, providing long term stability, clarity, and security.
Considering a return home: Is it safe for the child?
We recognise that parents can make positive changes at any point in a child’s life, which may mean they are better able to care for their child.
If you are currently caring for someone else’s child and believe the parent(s) have made meaningful improvements to their lifestyle or parenting, giving you confidence that they may be able to safely resume care, please discuss these with your social worker if you are a foster carer or the child’s social worker if they have one. During the annual review of the Special Guardianship support plan, carers should speak out and let us know if they feel unable to continue caring for the child, so that appropriate support can be put in place.
If there is no current social work involvement, you can complete a Single Contact Form via the Multi-Agency Children’s Hub (MACH), requesting an assessment of the child’s care arrangements.
Multi-agency children's hub - single contact form
This will ensure that an assessment is carried out to determine whether it is safe, appropriate, and in the child’s best interests for them to return to a birth parent and/or to explore other options for the child’s care.