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Family and friends foster carers are approved local authority foster carers who have been assessed in relation to their suitability to care for a named child or named children only, and this should be reflected in the terms of their approval. However the fostering assessment should follow the two stage process outlined in the fostering regulations and statutory guidance Assessment and Approval of foster carers.
In England and Wales permanence has been defined in legislation as
“The long-term plan for the child’s upbringing and provides an underpinning framework for all social work with children and their families from family support through to adoption. The objective of planning for permanence is therefore to ensure that children have a secure, stable and loving family to support them through childhood and beyond and to give them a sense of security.”
Children Act 1989, Guidance and Regulations Vol. II: care planning, placement, and case review (June 2015).
The Government published the Special Guardianship (Amendment) Regulations in England in February 2016. These amendments followed a consultation in the autumn of 2015.
The changes include a strengthening of the assessment of prospective special guardians to ensure that they can fully meet the needs of the child through until adulthood.
Adoption is probably the most well-known form of permanence in the UK. When a child is adopted, their new parents take on full parental responsibility for their care as their legal guardian.
