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All children in the care of Dudley MBC will have a permanency plan within four months of them coming into care.  This plan will be formally received at the four month statutory review and a permanency planning meeting will be arranged which will seek to develop the plan to achieve permanency via: reunification to birth family, long-term fostering, adoption or, for some older children, residential care.

Where permanency needs for a child less than eight years of age are being considered and return to birth family or placement with extended family is ruled out, adoption should always be the preferred plan, as this gives greater legal and psychological security.

For other children, other routes to secure permanency such as long term fostering, residence order, special guardianship orders may be the preferred option depending on the child's particular needs and circumstances.

Where the plan is for reunification to birth family seen as a permanency option this will trigger a permanency planning meeting in the same way as for other permanency plans.  This will ensure that the same consideration of support needed and actions to be taken is given as for the achievement of other permanency options.

Permanency planning will seek routes to permanency, which enable siblings to live together wherever possible taking into account consideration the particular needs of each child concerned.

Separation of siblings should always be a needs led decision and not one dictated by the non-availability of appropriate resources.

Where a child's permanency plan is for adoption, a match with a prospective adopter should be made within six months of the best interest decision or within six months of a court decision in care proceedings or within three months if child under six months of age and voluntary relinquished for adoption by their parents.

If the plan to achieve permanency is long term fostering, children should also be placed with a permanent family within six months of the permanency decision being agreed by the agency decision maker.

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