What is permanency?

Permanency means family, belonging, and lifelong connection.
There are many ways to create permanency including adoption, guardianship, kinship care, and Indigenous customary care.
Permanency has four dimensions: legal, physical, cultural, and relational permanency.
AFABC believes that adoption and other forms of permanency are all part of the same “family.” We have a great deal in common, and together, we are stronger.
In BC, legal adoptions have decreased in recent years. Meanwhile, other permanency options for children and youth have been on the rise. As our world changes, AFABC is here to support permanency families of all kinds—just like we've supported adoptive families for the past 45 years.
- Learn more about the different types of adoption
- Learn more about guardianship
- Learn more about kinship care (on the Ministry for Children and Family Development's website)
- Learn more about Indigenous custom adoption
- Learn more about the four dimensions of permanency in our free on-demand webinar, Pathways to Permanency
- Learn more about how the world of adoption and permanency is changing in the BC Representative for Children and Youth's 2019 report, Adoption & Permanency Options in BC
Further reading: