- Identify the problems that led to out-of-home placement and provide services accordingly. Identify the strengths of the family, including all parents, and the likelihood of reunification within 12 -15 months;
- Identify the obstacles to reunification;
- Early paternity determination;
- Early aggressive search for relatives and kin to help achieve permanency.
- Early identification and consideration of all permanency options.
- Frequent and constructive use of parent-child visitation as part of the reunification efforts.
- Full disclosure to the parents of problems, changes, possible consequences, timelines, and alternative permanency decision making should be discussed on an ongoing basis. Let parents know the negatives effects of placement on children, the urgency for reunification, and the need for a concurrent plan if they do not follow through;
- Initial placement with a relative or resource/adopt family who can, if necessary, become the permanent home of the child;
- Front loading services-provides reasonable efforts and attempts to get the family engaged early;
- Motivate the parents to change;
- Effective and timely court hearings with firm timelines for permanency decision making; during which time, documented steps are taken to achieve reunification and an alternative permanency option;
- Ongoing evaluation of progress, tracking and adjusting, to find what works for the family; lack of progress suggests that planned strategies are either wrong or underpowered. Goals should be easy to understand and families should take an active role in developing their goals;
- When reunification is not possible within a reasonable timeframe, take steps to finalize the alternative permanency option.
DSS Manuals Website