ABSTRACT
The concurrent planning model of the 1990s is built on a foundation of 30 years of data on out-of-home care length of stay. Attempts to build an evaluation component into concurrent planning programs are in an embryonic stage and existing outcome reports are scarce. Clearly, the concurrent planning model is built upon an expectation of high-functioning foster families, social workers, and supervisors. Caregivers taking on concurrent planning need specialized training to help them support the child's biological parents. In a related development, placement agencies began to report on their efforts to create a hybrid program, called foster/adoption, that would benefit children in care who were unlikely to return home. The out-of-home care population is made up predominately of children whose families live below the poverty line. Given the population in out-of-home care and its congruence with the concurrent planning model, there is a danger of expecting more than can reasonably be delivered.
