Sample Concurrent Planning Two Minute Pitch

Sample Concurrent Planning Two Minute Pitch Segment 11, Activity 11B

Part 1 – Express the importance of the subject: Now I need to talk to you about something that is very important for you to consider. Your opinion on this issue is very important to me and I want to be sure to discuss this with you. I want you to know we don’t have to make decisions about this today; this is just the initial conversation.

Part 2 – Define the subject matter: The discussion we need to have is about making a plan for your child in case the court does not allow your child to come home. This is like the planning all parents do to decide who would become a permanent caregiver for their child through adoption or legal guardianship if they were unable to be there. I want to make sure you know that I am going to work with you to provide all the support I can to help you succeed in the case plan and get your child back, and I have faith in you that you can succeed. I also have to work on this back-up plan with you now because sometimes we have to think about a lot of different ideas to come up with the back-up plan.

Part 3 – Explain the benefit of the subject matter: I know it’s not easy to think about having someone else raise your child, but having a plan in place can help your child experience less pain and sadness if you don’t reunify. Children who are left in foster care when their parents can’t reunify can be forced to move many times from one foster home to another. Children who grow up in foster care without a permanent family experience many problems as young adults such as homelessness, unemployment, and incarceration.

Part 4 – Give examples: I’m not sure if you are aware of all the possible types of permanent placement we could consider for your child. Permanency includes relative adoption, foster parent adoption, open adoption and legal guardianship. You may have a relative who would be your choice to take care of your child. In that case, we could talk about the pros and cons of adoption and guardianship. If you don’t have a relative who could become a permanent caregiver, we can explore available foster parents who have been approved for adoption. Some of those families are very open to maintaining relationships with parents, grandparents and other family members.

Part 5 – Pull the family in to the conversation: Tell me what you think about this back-up plan. Do you have ideas about someone in your family who could be a permanent caregiver?

Common Core | Family Engagement in Case Planning & Case Management: | Version 2.3, 2013