Complex Care/Specialized Permanency

Every child and youth deserves, and needs, a loving permanent family to help them grow and thrive – and for too many who grow up in the child welfare system, a loving family remains elusive. Children who enter the children’s system of care often suffer from some form of trauma which led to the separation from their family; in addition, the experience of child welfare intervention in and of itself can be a traumatic experience. While most children are reunified with their parents within the first year, many are not. In fact, on average, approximately 20% of children who enter foster care are still in care after 3 years. Further, many children and youth who experience trauma and foster care develop complex care needs, Children and youth for whom permanency is achieved may still have unresolved complex care needs which can escalate and lead to additional system intervention, and children and youth for whom permanency does not happen experience further trauma that comes with not finding a permanent sense of home and belonging.

Specialized Permanency Services, now required by law in the state of California, are designed to help ensure children and youth (including nonminor dependents) achieve a permanent, loving family—a sense of belonging. Specialized permanency services are designed for and with the child to address the child's history of trauma, separation and loss. This is achieved through intensive family finding and engagement, connection and relationship building, therapeutic and behavioral health services, pro-social activities, child-specific resource parent recruitment, and other individualized services and supports.