Early Permanence - a potential route to adoption

• The child will benefit from stability and continuity of care from the earliest possible stage, avoiding the possibility of multiple family placements and possible placement breakdowns. 
• Early Permanence enables early bonds to be made and early attachment needs to be met. 
• It allows for a permanent home to be found for the child as early as possible, with research showing that risks of developmental and behavioural difficulties lessen the earlier the child is placed with permanent carers. 
• Early Permanence enables the early development of forming a secure attachment to their primary care giver. 
• Children will get what they need – to become a member of a loving family that will be their family for the rest of their lives – whether that means being adopted or returning to the care of their birth family. 

• You will provide early stability, love and care to a baby or child, in a time of their life where they are extremely vulnerable. Regardless of the court outcome, you will have the satisfaction of knowing you have played a very important role. 
• You will get to know the child sooner and if you do go on to adopt them you will have already established a bond and will be able to share early memories with them. 
• There is the possibility of having a very young baby placed with you, even straight from hospital. 
• You will get to know the birth family better through 'family time' contact sessions, which will give you a better understanding of a child’s birth family and history. 
• You will be able to talk more meaningfully with the child about their birth family, and offer them real insight into their early experiences. 
• You may develop relationships with the child’s birth family which can form the basis for meaningful contact in the future if you go on to adopt the child.

Being a temporary foster carer does not suit all prospective adopters. You will need to be emotionally resilient and flexible. There will be several things that you will need to consider:

• Dependant on the age that some children enter an Early Permanence placement, there could be some uncertainties around their health and development.
• You will need to support and be comfortable with the child maintaining family time with their birth family until the Court makes its final decision about whether the child should be adopted. 
• You will need to understand your role and position as a foster carer, be able to work with professionals and attend / be available for regular meetings and visits to your home. Until an Adoption Order is granted, you are not ‘Mum or Dad,' and decisions about the care you provide will be made by other people. 
• The Court may decide to return the child to their birth parents or a family member, so you need to be able to support the child with rehabilitation. You will need to think about how you, your immediate and wider family will cope with this. It will be important for you to think about what support you might need from the outset, what support you have access to and how you typically deal with challenging, upsetting, or painful situations. 
• If you already have a child you will need to prepare them for the period of uncertainty in the fostering phase. 

As we have highlighted, Early Permanence brings a different role, as you would be fostering under the direct supervision of the Local Authority. This will involve working with Cumbria fostering as well as Cumbria adoption.