Voices Matter
Practical Tips for Discussing Permanency with Youth
Through our signature program, Wendy’s Wonderful Kids®, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption supports the hiring of professionals, known as recruiters, who are dedicated to finding permanent homes for the longest-waiting children in foster care. These professionals use an evidence-based, child-focused recruitment model to find the right family for every child. A rigorous, five-year evaluation revealed that children referred to Wendy’s Wonderful Kids are up to 3x more likely to achieve permanency.
A key component of the child-focused recruitment model is working to build a trusting relationship with youth to unpack their hopes and fears about permanency. Following are some lessons learned by Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiters to support these critical conversations with the youth you serve.
- Explore what permanency is and what it means to be in a family
- Support youth in understanding all
permanency options, including adoption,
guardianship and family reunification when
it is a safe option - Guide youth through the permanency process while reinforcing that their voice matters
- Share how you partner with the youth’s team to find them a permanent family
- Discuss why you review case records
- Reassure youth that your goal is to identify meaningful connections in their lives to help achieve permanency
- Collaborate with youth to identify meaningful connections in their life, especially those present during important or challenging moments
- Remind youth of people they may have forgotten
- Compare case records with the youth’s perspective to understand who has shown up consistently over time and provided reliable support
- Encourage youth to nurture relationships with trusted adults who support permanency in unique ways, even if they aren’t placement options
- Help youth understand the importance of having supportive people in their life as they plan for the future and develop lifelong relationships
- Emphasize that trusted connections can play an active role and have a voice in permanency planning
- Who shared holidays or special occassions with you?
- Who did you want to be like?
- Who did you enjoy being with?
- Who believed in you?
- Who taught you something?
- Who learned something from you?
- Who could you turn to when you felt …
- □ Scared?
- □ Alone?
- □ Happy?
- □ Proud?
- □ Excited?
- □ In danger?
- □ Sad?
- □ Inspired?
- What do you want to do for work? Do you know someone who does similar work?
- Would you be willing to meet someone new who could mentor you or have you intern?
- Would you be willing to volunteer somewhere doing something you love or are interested in?
- Where do you see yourself in one, three, five and 10 years? How can you get there? Who can help?
- Who would you like to spend the holidays with when you’re an adult?
- Who would you call if your car broke down or you needed advice?
- Ask the youth how they feel engaging in these conversations
- Ask how you can work together to process those feelings
- Give the youth space to ask questions or talk about their concerns
These are not one-time conversations; a youth’s feelings toward permanency may change, and that is okay! Have regular conversations with youth about permanency, connections and their future.
Lastly, don’t give up!
Giving a child someone that they know that they can trust and speak to and be heard, it’s very important.
