For children and youth in foster care, permanency is not about replacing the families they were born into—as those biological and emotional connections matter and will always exist in some way for those who have experienced familial separation and loss.

The word “permanency” encompasses the many ways in which children and youth in foster care are able to attain physical, emotional, and legal stability through the supportive connections with adults in their lives who are committed to providing them with a lifetime of the love, care, and support they need to heal and thrive.

Permanency can take on many forms and meanings based on individual perceptions and experiences. Kinship care, guardianship, foster care (with the goal of reunification), and adoption can all serve as pathways to permanency for children and youth in Minnesota’s foster care system.

FOR PROFESSIONALS

The Resource Hub contains two sections that are password-protected and only accessible to DCYF, County, PPPC, and PSS workers. Due to the nature of the information being shared, access to this section requires verification via email and role identification.

One section contains information and links specific to referring a MN child or teen for recruitment services. Through this section, workers can learn about the child-specific recruitment services available—including Meet the Kids (Minnesota Live, All About Me, print media), Minnesota Heart Gallery, and The Reel Hope Project. Workers can also access direct links to PPPC agency Child-Specific (or Child-Focused) Recruitment referral forms.

Additionally, there is a Professional Calendar that contains information on professionals-only upcoming trainings, regional meetings, and more. This calendar is password-protected due to the fact that these meetings are not open to the public and some of the information shared may contain identifying information about children and youth in need of permanency and families who are hoping to adopt.

RESOURCES

A 12-year-old youth is struggling in the months after her adoption is finalized in court. The parents and daughter have a CTSS in-home therapist supporting through this time of transition, though the youth has become increasingly withdrawn at school and having more physical and verbal outbursts at home. One evening as she becomes dysregulated, her parents call the mobile crisis response line for their county to get some more support in the moment. The crisis response worker helps them assess the safety of the situation and coordinates transport for her to the hospital for assessment, stabilization, and additional support. The youth remains in the hospital overnight for further assessment.

The hospital social worker and crisis response worker touch base on resources to better support the youth and family upon discharge. The crisis response worker suggests that resources offered must include supports for adopted youth and families given this has been a recent adoption. The hospital social worker agrees and finds the Resource Hub online.

• The hospital social worker reviews the range of PSS services in the About section that may be available for this family and gets a release to touch base with the CTSS in-home therapist and shares that the Resource Hub looks to be a quality resource moving forward for this family.
• The crisis response worker explores the Find a Service tool on the website. Using that tool, under Therapeutic Supports, they discover Foster Adopt MN and its HELP Program. They encourage the family to connect with the HELP Program for an intake and an opportunity to explore ongoing therapeutic supports for their daughter. They also discover the Resources page and encourage the family to explore the websites and guides–especially the adoptee lived experience resources, NAMI Guide – Keeping Families Together, and the Beacon House resources on trauma-informed parenting strategies and support.
• The hospital social worker later visits the Contact Us page and completes the form in hopes of receiving additional guidance on resources and services available to families in Minnesota. They occasionally work with kinship, foster, and adoptive families in their role and feel they could benefit from the services featured on the Resource Hub.

Given the resources provided to the family upon their daughter’s discharge from the hospital, coupled with the information and service connections provided through the Resource Hub, the youth’s care team feels confident that the family will be able to access the ongoing services to support their daughter’s needs.