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Vol. 25, No. 2
April 2020

NC Is Working to Improve Permanency Outcomes

Foster care can be a lifeline for children and families, but when it goes on too long it can have negative effects. That's why federal law tells courts and child welfare agencies they must help youth achieve permanence within 12 months of entering foster care.

Yet as the figure below shows, over the past four years, the time it takes NC children to exit foster care has grown. As the figure also shows, time to adoption in particular is an issue. In SFY 2018-19, children who exited to adoption spent far longer in foster care--a median of 912 days--than those who exited to reunification, guardianship, or custody.

Figure: Exits from Foster Care in NC: Median Days in Care by Exit Type

North Carolina is determined to decrease length of stay and increase the rate of safe, permanent exits from foster care. No single strategy will achieve this, but as this issue of Practice Notes describes, our state is pursuing a number of proven methods to improve our performance. Despite their differences, a common theme of these approaches is the need for strong partnerships in which our judicial and child welfare systems hold each other accountable and work together to improve results for children and families.

Contents of this Issue

Click here to read or print the entire issue as a pdf file

North Carolina Holds Permanency Leadership Summit

Families Love Wake County's New Family Visitation Center

District Collaboratives Seek to Boost Permanency Outcomes in NC

Success Coach Services Supports Permanency in Catawba and Beyond

Free Services Help Counties Achieve Permanence for Youth in Care

NC Improves Post Adoption Support Services (PASS)

Permanence Outcomes Depend on Our Efforts to Recruit and Retain Resource Families

KinGAP, Guardianship, and the Path to Permanency

NC Seeks to Serve More with Foster Care 18-21 Program

References for this Issue

~ Family and Children's Resource Program ~