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Foster care has evolved over time to focus on concurrent planning for all children in out-of-home care. This means that when a child first enters out-of-home care, in addition to the primary goal of reunification, a concurrent goal is identified to ensure that a plan is in place to achieve permanency in the event that reunification cannot occur. 

The KidsPeace Permanency Program offers numerous services to support children and families in achieving permanency through the Statewide Adoption Network (SWAN), including Child Profile, Child Preparation, Child Specific Recruitment, Family Profile, Family Matching, Placement, and Finalization. 

The Family Matching services are a new unit of service implemented by SWAN in order to support families approved for adoption with the process of matching with a youth available for adoption. During this unit of service, families receive support with identifying children available for adoption through the Pennsylvania Adoption Exchange. Families also receive ongoing training throughout the process in order to prepare for bringing a child into their home. 

Recently, a KidsPeace family was matched with a teen who lost her parents and was residing in a group home. During the matching process, the family participated in extensive training utilizing the Together Facing the Challenge curriculum. The youth was placed with the family and finalization services are currently in place. 

Following finalization, the KidsPeace Permanency Program recognizes that continued support is invaluable to families. For this reason, the KidsPeace office in Temple, PA is currently in the process of developing post-permanency support group services to families. Some of the topics to be discussed include Attachment & Bonding and Trauma & Development. The support group will aim to help families identify how these topics manifest within the home environment following permanency, and ways for families to cope and utilize support systems. 

The goal of the KidsPeace Permanency Program is to continuously support children and families with achieving and maintaining safety, permanency and wellbeing. 

Amy Silfies

Amy Silfies is Permanency Program Manager for KidsPeace. A graduate of Muhlenberg College with a master’s degree in school counseling from West Chester University, Amy worked as an outpatient and community-based therapist and HR training professional at a non-profit organization before entering the foster care and adoption field in 2004. In her current role, she oversees permanency services for KidsPeace Foster Care offices in Bethlehem, Chalfont and Reading, PA.