Early Permanence

Early Permanence is a more child-focused approach to adoption. Children can be placed with adopters who are also approved as foster carers at a much earlier stage than with an adoption placement. This can speed up a child’s journey through care and minimise the disruption from repeated moves to different families. This helps children experience a loving and secure home where they can feel safe and settled at the earliest possible opportunity.

We provide this alternative approach to adoption through the Triangle Project, which offers both fostering for adoption and concurrency placements.  

Fostering for Adoption

In fostering for adoption placements, the expected outcome and agreed plan for the child is adoption but the court process to confirm this has not concluded.

Concurrency

In concurrency placements, the Local Authority is assessing different plans which include return to birth family if parenting assessments enable this, and if not, a plan of adoption with be confirmed.

Our Early Permanence placements provide children with security and stability at a much earlier stage whilst plans are confirmed. We support our dual-approved carers at every step of their journey.
 

Could you Adopt via Early Permanence? 

The Early Permanence route isn’t for everyone. It requires resourceful, emotionally resilient families who are willing to put the needs of the child first. There are risks and demands involved, but it’s also an approach with huge potential benefits.

As an early permanence carer you’ll be dual-approved as a foster carer and adopter. A child can then be placed with you, initially as a registered foster carer while the legal process concerning the child is still underway. As foster carers, you will care for the child whilst the child's social worker assesses the birth family and makes a recommendation to the Court about the child's future care. During this period the plans for the child’s future are yet to be decided by the Courts.

If the Court decides that adoption is the best option to secure the child's future wellbeing, then the fostering placement becomes an adoption placement. At this point you become the child’s adopters and can make an application to the Court to formally adopt the child.

Sometimes, the Court may decide the child will return to their birth family. As a dual-approved carer, you will have played an incredibly important role in providing a loving and secure home, enabling the child to be safe and really well cared for through this uncertain period.  

Early Permanence places the child at the centre of the process and ensures they avoid unnecessary disruption and delay. We will ensure our dual-approved carers feel properly supported, fully involved, and heard throughout the process. 
 

Find out more about Triangle Project by downloading our Statement of Purpose