child’s personal and developmental characteristics, ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious background, family and social environment, medical history and any special needs. 58. The resulting initial and review reports should be used as essential tools for planning decisions from the time of their acceptance by the competent authorities onwards, with a view to, inter alia, avoiding undue disruption and contradictory decisions. 59. Frequent changes in care setting are detrimental to the child’s development and ability to form attachments, and should be avoided. Short-term placements should aim at enabling an appropriate permanent solution to be arranged. Permanency for the child should be secured without undue delay through reintegration in his/her nuclear or extended family or, if this is not possible, in an alternative stable family setting or, where paragraph 20 above applies, in stable and appropriate residential care. 60. Planning for care provision and permanency should be carried out from the earliest possible time, ideally before the child enters care, taking into account the immediate and longer-term advantages and disadvantages of each option considered, and should comprise short- and long-term propositions. 61. Planning for care provision and permanency should be based on, notably, the nature and quality of the child’s attachment to his/her family; the family’s capacity to safeguard the child’s well-being and harmonious development; the child’s need or desire to feel part of a family; the desirability of the child remaining within his/her community and country; his/her cultural, linguistic and religious background; and relationships with siblings, with a view to avoiding their separation. 62. The plan should clearly state, inter alia, the goals of the placement and the measures to achieve them. 63. The child and his/her parents or legal guardians should be fully informed about the alternative care options available, the implications of each option and their rights and obligations in the matter. 64. The preparation, enforcement and evaluation of a protective measure for a child should be carried out, to the greatest extent possible, with the participation of his/her parents or legal guardians and potential foster carers and caregivers, with respect to his/her particular needs, convictions and special wishes. At the request of the child, parents or legal guardians, other important persons in the child’s life may also be consulted in any decision-making process, at the discretion of the competent authority. 65. States should ensure that any child who has been placed in alternative care by a properly constituted court, tribunal or administrative or other competent body, as well as his/her parents or others with parental responsibility, are given the opportunity to make representations on the placement decision before a court, are informed of their rights to make such representations and are assisted in doing so. 66. States should ensure the right of any child who has been placed in temporary care to regular and thorough review - preferably at least every three months - of the appropriateness of his/her care and treatment, taking into account notably his/her personal development and any changing needs, developments in his/her family environment, and the adequacy and necessity of the current placement in these lights. The review should be carried out by duly qualified and authorized persons, and fully involve the child and all relevant persons in the child’s life. 67. The child should be prepared for all changes of care settings resulting from the planning and review processes. VII. PROVISION OF ALTERNATIVE CARE A. Policies 68. It is a responsibility of the State or appropriate level of government to ensure the development and implementation of coordinated policies regarding formal and informal care for all children who are without parental care. Such policies should be based on sound information and statistical data. They should define a process for determining who has responsibility for a child, taking into account the role of the child’s parents or principal caregivers in his/her protection, care and development. Presumptive responsibility, unless shown to be otherwise, is with the child’s parents or principal caregivers. 9