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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The Routledge Handbook of Adoption

Gretchen Miller Wrobel, Emily Helder, Elisha Marr, Eds., 2020

This handbook provides a central source of contemporary scholarship from a variety of disciplines with an international perspective and uses a multifaceted and interdisciplinary approach to ground adoption practices and activities in scientific research.

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Kafalah: Preliminary analysis of national and cross-border practices

International Social Service/International Centre of Reference for the Rights of Children Deprived of their Family, 2020

Through the analysis of over twenty country contexts, this study aims at clarifying in particular: Where does kafalah originate from? What are its characteristics in different States, and how is it recognised or enforced in another State?

Case Study on Family-Based Care. ACE Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia

Simon Kanyemob, Shoshon Tama, Gabriel Walder - Alliance for Children Everywhere (ACE), 2020

The goal of this case study is to demonstrate a working model of family-based care in Zambia which can produce a replicable framework that can be modified for other regions and circumstances.

ISS Country Fact Sheet for the CRC

ISS, 2020

Country fact sheet for the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child; Philippines.

La kafalah: Analyse préliminaire de pratiques nationales et transfrontières

Service Social International, 2020

Narrative and Dramatic Approaches to Children’s Life Story with Foster, Adoptive and Kinship Families

Joan Moore, 20 Dec 2019

This book outlines narrative and dramatic approaches to improve vulnerable family relationships. It provides a model which offers new ways for parents to practise communicating with their children and develop positive relationships.

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The development of DDP-informed parenting groups for parents and carers of children looked after or adopted from care

Kim S Golding - Adoption & Fostering, 11 Dec 2019

This article describes the development of two parenting groups – Nurturing Attachments and Foundations for Attachment, devised to provide much needed support for foster, residential and kinship carers and adopters parenting children and young people of all ages. Both programmes are informed by the Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) model.

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Country Care Review: Portugal

Better Care Network, 09 Dec 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.

Country Care Review: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Better Care Network , 05 Dec 2019

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on the Rights of the Child.