In 2014, the Federal Government passed a law that states that children in foster care who are under the age of 16 cannot have APPLA (Another Permanent Planned Living Arrangement) as a permanency plan. Let's face it...APPLA is not a plan, it's a status. The purpose of permanency is to provide youths with just that....permanency. That means a place to call home, people to depend on, folks to come to their aid and support when life goes well or not so well. When the federal government took this action, the purpose was to force the child welfare system to think outside the box to identify permanency resources for kids in foster care. That meant foster parents taking guardianship, finding adoptive resources for kids, and reaching out to adults who the youth sees as a supportive person to explore their willingness to make a permanent commitment to this young person.
The Office of the Child Advocate acknowledges that sometimes APPLA is the most appropriate plan for a youth. When that happens, that's ok, we just want to ensure that we have done everything possible to identify another option. In this interview, we speak to Chief of Legal Services attorney Kelly Ensslin as she shares her thoughts on APPLA and how CASAs can best advocate for permanency plans other than APPLA.
