Adoption and Kafala

Adoption is the formal, permanent transfer of parental rights to a family other than a child’s own and the formal assumption by that family of all parenting duties for the child. Where a child’s parents are living and their parental rights have not been terminated, they must provide informed consent for adoption. In some countries it is not culturally acceptable to give the parental rights to a non-family member, and therefore alternative long-term care options must be pursued e.g. kinship care. In some Islamic countries, the term ‘Kafala’ in Islamic law is used to describe a situation similar to adoption, but without the severing of family ties, the transference of inheritance rights, or the change of the child’s family name.

Given the permanency of adoption, it should be used very carefully and only when it is in a child’s best interests. In some cases difficult choices must be made between keeping a child in a temporary care situation in the hope of eventual family reunification, and a child’s developmental need for permanent attachment and care within a family environment. Adoption should not be considered an option in an emergency context. In the case of family separation in an emergency all tracing activities must be exhausted before adoption can be considered.

The long term care of a child requires thorough assessment and planning, and should include the participation of all those affected, especially the child in question. The choice for adoption must meet the child’s long term needs and wishes, and enable their healthy development into adulthood. Wherever possible, children should remain with siblings and encouraged to maintain contact with relatives. All adoptive placements should be in keeping with applicable national law and international standards.

Ideally adoptive parents should come from a similar cultural and religious background to the child, so that the child can retain her heritage and sense of identity. This will be more likely when the adoption is within the country of the child’s origin. The child care policies of a country must therefore provide mechanisms for formal state adoption procedures, and provide workers to support this process. Intercountry or cross border adoptions should be used with caution since the child is likely to grow up in unfamiliar surroundings, and may therefore be more isolated and exposed to risk. When intercountry adoption is in the best interests of a child, international protection agencies should ensure standards are met and procedures should be in keeping with the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption.

This section of papers includes country and policy examples of the use of adoption and guidance on practice.

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Looked after and adopted children: applying the latest science to complex biopsychosocial formulations

Carmen Pinto - Adoption & Fostering, 26 Sep 2019

This article presents a case study of a 15-year-old boy whose severe difficulties were understood and formulated in terms of ‘attachment problems’ for many years.

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Country Care Review: Albania

Better Care Network , 25 Sep 2019

This country care review includes the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Committees' recommendations on the issue of Family Environment and Alternative Care, and other care relevant issues, are highlighted.

Papering the Origins: Place-Making, Privacy, and Kinship in Spanish International Adoption

Jessaca Leinaweaver - Genealogy, 25 Sep 2019

This article examines place and privacy as two key resources for producing kinship through an analysis of exceptional legal practices in Spain that overdetermine international adoptees’ Spanishness.

Country Care Review: India

Better Care Network, 20 Sep 2019

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as part of the Committees' examinations of the periodic reports of India.

Country Care Review: Greece

Better Care Network , 19 Sep 2019

This country care review includes the Concluding Observations for the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted as part of the Committees' examinations of Greece’s reports, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.

Specific Alternative Childcare Services

Murli Desai, 18 Sep 2019

The aim of this module from the book Rights-based Integrated Child Protection Service Delivery Systems is to learn to place children in specific alternative childcare services.

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A comparison between a Neuro-Physiological Psychotherapy (NPP) treatment group and a control group for children adopted from care: Support for a neurodevelopmentally informed approach to therapeutic intervention with maltreated children

Elaine McCullough & Amy Mathura - Child Abuse & Neglect, 13 Sep 2019

The objective of this study was to compare the outcomes for the Neuro-Physiological Psychotherapy (NPP) intervention group to those of a control group.

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Is Poverty Eroding Parental Rights in Britain? The Case of Child Protection in the Early Twenty-First Century

Alicia-Dorothy Mornington & Alexandrine Guyard-Nedelec - Philosophy and Child Poverty, 13 Sep 2019

This chapter argues that poverty per se should never constitute the basis for removing children from their parents and seeks to understand the British situation, in order to see how poverty is treated in relation to child welfare in Britain.

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People’s Perceptions and Practices of Domestic Adoption in Adama City

Heran Ejara, Nega Jibat - Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences, 01 Sep 2019

This study from Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences examined perceptions and practices of domestic adoption in Adama City in Oromia/Ethiopia. The study reveals that people’s perception towards adoption practice, adoptive parents and children is mixed; it could be positive and encouraging or negative and discouraging.

Perspectives on kinship care, foster care and adoption in Scotland. Insights for policymakers and practitioners

Helen Whincup - University of Stirling, 01 Sep 2019

Part of the 'Permanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children in Scotland' study, this briefing draws upon the voices of children, carers and adoptive parents in Scotland, offering perspectives on kinship care, foster care and adoption.