The Infant Mental Health Journal has published an important Special Issue on Global Research, Practice, and Policy Issues in the Care of Infants and Young Children at Risk.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (The Hague Permanent Bureau, 1993), and the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children (2009) have provided a comprehensive, rights-based framework and guidance for developing domestic adoption and alternative, family based care programs. Domestic adoption is a critical component of any child-protection system and a core part of the range of alternative care options that the United Nations and other international organizations recommend be developed, resourced, and made accessible to children without parental care. This article uses data collected from adoptive parents’ postadoption and governmental data in Romania, Ukraine, India, Guatemala, and Ethiopia to focus on domestic adoption in each of these countries. The article highlights both promising practices in domestic adoption as well as policies and practices that require additional research.
Infant Mental Health Journal Volume 35, Issue 2, March/April 2014, Pages 87–191