Best Practices :: Reunification

7.1 Definition of Reunification

The first of the permanency options to be discussed in this guide, reunification, is the preferred goal for every child coming into out-of-home care when it can be safely accomplished.

The need for out-of-home placement as the principal or sole safety intervention must be balanced against the trauma of removal, prolonged separation from the family with whom the child shares family membership, tradition and identity. The child's attachment to his/her family, even in the face of maltreatment, must be understood as an essential component of the child's emotional security. The purpose of casework intervention is to strengthen the family through frequent parent-child visitation and opportunities for meaningful parent-child involvement while the child is placed outside the home.

Reunification is the planned process of reconnecting children who are in out-of-home care with their families and their communities, while recognizing the unique demands and needs created by the child's sense of time.