Pre-placement Planning: Examining Continuity and Connections

It is well recognised that children and young people in out-of-home care require stability and a sense of security. Focus has been given to the importance of stable placements with the same carers and maintaining or establishing positive relationships with significant others, such as parents and siblings. Undoubtedly, placement and family relationships are critical, but there are additional avenues for enhancing children's wellbeing when planning for continuity and connections. This paper reports on how continuity and connections for children in out-of-home care are dealt with in the placement planning process. Sixteen case managers were interviewed from a non-government placement service in two Australian states about pre-placement planning, connections, continuity and discontinuity. The findings suggest that continuity and connection planning should be a more elevated and explicit part of the process of pre-placement planning, as it has the potential to create a more seamless and coherent experience for children.