Tania Stuart is a Social Worker in our Scotland team, who specialises in Foster Care Permanency. She joined us 17 years ago as our first Social Worker in the region when the team was set up. She talks about what Permanence is, and about the stability and security it provides for young people.

I’ve been a Social Worker since 1998 and in 2013, I was given the opportunity to complete a post-graduate qualification in permanence. Since then, I’ve taken the lead on all things permanency here at TACT Scotland. In addition, I hold a caseload of long-term and permanence foster carers, and I also qualified as a Practice Educator in 2023.

Foster Care Permanency: What is it?

Foster Care Permanency or ‘Permanence’ is a specialist type of arrangement in Scotland that provides long-term, stable care for a child or young person who is unable to return to their birth family. It’s different to adoption in that the young person remains ‘looked after’ by the local authority, but their foster carers can take on a significant parental role, including shared parental rights and responsibilities.

Effectively it normalises and stabilises life for the young person. It takes away the uncertainty that at any time they might have to move from their family, school, friends, or local area, and it allows them to keep their ties to their birth family where appropriate.

For our permanence foster carers, it gives them the ability to provide a stable home until the child is 18 years old and allows them to make day-to-day parental decisions. Many of them tell us how rewarding it is for them to be able to see the young person grow and thrive over time. At 18, the young person, if they wish are supported to remain in the care of their permanent carers under the Continuing Care option.

Working together for better outcomes

Collaboration and connection is key with all aspects of foster care, including permanency. In my role I work with lots of different people. I could be supporting our foster carers through the permanence preparation course and assessment, advising my colleagues on permanency matters or liaising with our local authority partners for updates. I also work with the wider TACT team on our policies and procedures around permanency and even worked with my tutor from the post-graduate qualification to develop one of the first permanency training sessions for foster carers back in 2013.

Working with our long-term foster carers, like Roni, is one of my favourite parts of the job. Roni’s been a foster carer with us for 12 years and is a permanent and adoptive carer to five young people. Her experience is vital. My practice experience and her life experience come together to tell the story of permanency to prospective carers going through our preparation and assessment process. It’s a pleasure to work together.

And, over the last year, I’ve also had the privilege of collaborating with others in the sector on permanency practice as a peer reviewer for two upcoming Good Practice in Permanence Guides; ‘Contact (Keeping in Touch)’ and ‘Supporting Families in Permanence’.

The Association of Fostering, Kinship and Adoption (AFKA) Scotland were commissioned by Scottish Government to develop these and I was one of 50 people from practice, research and government to have contributed to this fabulous project, which puts the best interests of the child firmly at the heart of it. I was delighted to hear that it looks likely that the TACT Permanence Preparation course will be used in the guide as a specific example of good practice!

Roni’s lived experience played a key role in providing the voice of the carer in this work, as did the feedback from colleagues here at TACT. The guides will be piloted within several agencies this summer and then shared across Scotland in 2026 so watch this space!

Proud to be part of the journey

Permanency is all about providing young people with the stability and security they deserve. It’s a privilege to be part of a process that transforms lives, not just for the young people, but for the foster carers who open their homes and hearts.

Looking ahead, we’ll continue to strengthen our approach, collaborating with carers, colleagues and partners to ensure the best possible outcomes for children in need of long-term care.

With the upcoming guides set to be shared across Scotland, and significant research on permanency underway by universities and AFKA, I’m excited to see how this work continues to evolve and positively impact young lives.