Your plan for placement and services is called a permanency plan. The goal is to return you home or to another safe and stable environment where you can be cared for. The following are the different permanency goals, and a description of each. You should always let your caseworker, your lawyer, and the judge know where and with whom you want to live with so your voice can be heard.
The first goal of the juvenile court is to reunify you with your biological family, even if you are 17 or 18. Your family should get the support they need so you can return home.
If you cannot be returned home to your parents, the next permanency goal is placement with a relative through adoption, kinship care (your relative acts as a foster parent) or permanent legal custodianship (your relative takes care of you long-term).
Adoption means that the legal rights and obligations of your biological parents end and your adoptive family has all the legal rights and responsibilities of any parent.
A permanent legal custodian (PLC) is someone who agrees to care for you and assume legal and physical custody of you until you become an adult. The qualifications to be a PLC are similar to those for licensed foster parents. Once you have a PLC, you are discharged from the system and will not have a caseworker and will not go to court. The rights of your biological parents do not need to be terminated for PLC to be granted.
Living on your own when you turn 18 is called independence. Living on your own, with the court’s authorization, before you are 18 is called emancipation. While these plans give you more freedom, they also give you a lot of responsibility to provide for yourself. If you want to keep receiving the support of the substitute care system, you can remain in care until age 21 if you are in a program of treatment or instruction. If your plan is independence, you should receive independent living services to help you prepare. You should be getting help to get a job and further your education so that you can support yourself when you leave care. Also, you should always have somewhere to go when you leave care—no young person should be discharged to homelessness.
Last updated: Summer 2007
