What is Permanent Care and how does it differ from Adoption?
Special children need families. Special Needs Adoption and Permanent Care provides stable and secure families for children who cannot live with their own family.
Helping a child feel part of your family is rewarding for all family members.
Special Children need families who can provide a caring and happy home environment. Ideally it would suit a person or couple willing and able to care for child with special needs.
There is no religious or cultural preference, nor are there any age restrictions for candidate families, but you do need to be in good health and understand the needs of the child.
It is important to have:
Special Needs Adoption applies to children of all ages and backgrounds. It includes single children and brothers and sisters.
While each child has special needs and some may have a physical and/or emotional disability, but each child brings challenges and rewards for carers.
It is important for children to know about their Birth Family. Contact helps them deal with the grief and loss of separation and is part of every placement.
You will not be alone. Staff and Parents Groups are there to assist. Information sessions and Education Workshops are held regularly and interested families are encouraged to attend to find out how they can be involved
Contact CENTACARE Catholic Family Services for more information on Special Needs Adoption and Permanent Care and attend one of our Special Needs Information Nights.
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Your local DHS Adoption and Permanent Care Team – to attend their information night and learn about their support services to families.
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Adoption and Permanent Care Teams |
Basically Permanent Care is where a child is placed in a family with the intention of the child living permanently with a family other than their Birth Family. After placement the child remains under the Legal Guardianship of the Department of Human Services until the granting of a Permanent Care Order. This order transfers the Legal Custody Guardianship to the Permanent Family, and remains in force until the child is 18 years.
Permanent Care Parents are responsible for making the day to day decisions (custody) as well as decisions about the long term welfare of the child (guardianship). The Order does not affect the child’s birth certificate even though his/her name may be informally changed.
A child can be adopted when his/her Birth Barent/s have signed an Adoption Consent. The placement is legalised by an Adoption Order which means that the family has full recognition in law as the parents of the child. A new Birth Certificate is issued, and the child has automatic rights of inheritance. An Adoption Order is effective throughout the child’s life.
AFAV thanks CENTACARE Catholic Family Services, DHS -Adoption Permanent Care Teams and SNAPP for their contribution to this web page. 15.4.2000
Special Needs Adoption and Permanent Care Adoption Families can gain support and assistance from:
Adoptive Families Association of Victoria
SNAPP (Special Needs Adoptive & Permanent Care Parents) was a unique organization relevant to parents who were considering adopting a child with Special Needs as a way of creating a family. They became part of AFAV in November 2000.
While every child is special - in the SNAPP context "Special Needs" refered to children who have additional needs than to children who are able to live with their biological families. Due to their individual circumstances, their family history, their health or the health of their Birth Parents, their age at placement, or a number of other factors, raising these children can make particular demands on Adoptive and Permanent Care Parents.
All SNAPP members were Special Needs Parents whose children have been living with them for varying periods of time. The value of support groups like AFAV lies in the contact they provide for members with similar families in a friendly informal atmosphere. AFAV members with Special Needs children support each other by the sharing of experiences, information, ideas and problems. No one can understand these issues like another Special Needs Family. These children are currently placed in families under a permanent care order.
AFAV aims amongst other things to be an advocate to present concerns to legal and political bodies on matters to Adoption and Permanent Care.
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AFAV Web Information Service (A.W.I.S.) via E-mail |
Content supplied by AFAV. Last modified