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Effective: 01/08/2026

C12.25 Ensuring Positive Permanent Connections and Relationship Skills

Legal Authority

Introduction

​Helping to achieve meaningful, permanent connections with a caring adult is one of the supports provided to transition-age youth and young adults who are committed to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS/Cabinet). It is imperative to ensure that transition-age youth and young adults in out-of-home care (OOHC) have committed lifelong connections with positive, supportive adults. ​​​

Practice Guidance

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  • Meaningful, permanent connections with positive, supportive adults are necessary for long-term physical and emotional well-being throughout the lifetime. Transition-age youth and young adults need these permanent connections to feel a sense of safety and belonging, as well as a support network upon which to rely when needs arise. 
  • Transition-age youth need lifelong supportive connections, regardless of permanency goal. It is very important to the youth’s or young adult’s success to assist them in identifying those stable, reliable, and supportive adults who will continue to provide various supports through and beyond transition from care or achievement of permanency.
  • When relationships with significant adults have developed based on the youth being in OOHC, it is necessary to determine whether those supportive relationships will continue once the youth exits care. It is essential to identify significant adults in the youth’s life who may serve as mentors or form lifelong connections and include these adults in transition planning. This may include family members, teachers, current or former foster parents, employers, former coaches, parents of friends, or others who have been influential in the youth’s life. 
  • A Permanency Pact is a defined and verbalized commitment by the youth and a supportive adult that provides structure and a safety net for the youth through a long-term and supportive relationship, as well as clarity regarding the expectations of the relationship. A Permanency Pact creates a formalized, facilitated process to connect youth in foster care with a supportive adult. The process of developing a Permanency Pact has proven successful in clarifying the relationship and identifying mutual expectations. A committed, caring adult may provide a lifeline for a youth after transition from care. 
  • A Permanency Pact may be completed with more than one supportive adult, as each may be committed to fulfilling different needs for the youth or young adult. 
  • Often, youth in OOHC have relationships with family members that may not always be positive or supportive. However, these are relationships that will continue into adulthood. It is important to allow the youth time while still in OOHC  to work with their therapist or service providers on how to embrace positive and supportive aspects of those relationships, while having a plan and skills to set healthy boundaries.  



Procedure

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The SSW:
  1. Works in partnership with the youth, caregivers, and service providers to identify permanent connections for the youth;
  2. Refers youth aged 16 and older to the transitional living specialist (TLS) who will assist with identifying permanent connections;  
  3. Works in partnership with the TLS to ensure that formal transition planning begins at age 17; 
  4. Participates in all transition meetings in-person, by phone, or virtually;
  5. Requests FSOS participation in transition meetings if unable to attend;
  6. Supports the youth in identifying permanent, lifelong connections;
  7. Works in partnership with the youth, therapists, or other service providers to support the development of relationship skills necessary for having healthy intimate and family relationships, either currently or in the future; 
  8. Participates in Permanency Pact ceremonies; 
  9. Reviews the transition plan in the case planning conference and subsequent periodic reviews for all youth age seventeen (17) and older; 
  10. Notifies the TLS of regularly scheduled case planning conferences for the youth; 
​The TLS:
  1. Initiates formal transition planning for youth beginning at age seventeen (17), following procedures in SOP C12.6 Transition Planning for Youth Age 17 and Older​;
  2. Assists the youth in identifying supports to attend the transition planning meetings and may include teachers, mentors, employers, family members, foster/adoptive parents, guardians ad litem, mental health providers, or other supportive individuals;
  3. Supports the youth in identifying permanent, lifelong connections and includes those individuals in transition planning as well;
  4. Educates everyone in attendance at the transition planning meeting about the Permanency Pact tool and discusses next steps in completing the Permanency Pact, and the ceremony for those interested;
  5. Assists the youth and any supportive adults in completing the Permanency Pact tool, identifying which needs the supportive adult is committing to meet for the youth;
  6. Facilitates or coordinates with the lead identified by the Transitional Services Branch to facilitate Permanency Pact ceremonies




Documents

Revisions