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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Country Care Review: Botswana

Better Care Network, 31 May 2019

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

Storying special objects: Material culture, narrative identity and life story work for children in care

Debbie Watson, Rachel Hahn, Jo Staines - Qualitative Social Work, 19 May 2019

This paper considers the importance of material objects for looked after and adopted children integrated as part of life story work practices.

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Analysis on geographical migration networks of child trafficking crime for illegal adoption from 2008 to 2017 in China

Zhongliang Huang & Wenguo Weng - Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 11 May 2019

This paper used the latest judgment documents from the court as a new data source, and identified the key nodes and trafficking paths by using a series of network indicators to enhance the public’s understanding of the crime mechanism of child trafficking.

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Adoption in the Service of Child Protection: An International Interdisciplinary Perspective

Jesús Palacios, et al - Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 01 May 2019

Written from a multidisciplinary and international perspective, this article outlines the place of adoption in the child protection system, as well as its core elements of permanence and stability.

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Demography of Adoption

Mary Ann Davis - Handbook of Population, 17 Apr 2019

This chapter from the Handbook of Population reviews demographic research focusing on the adoption of children.

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A meta-analytic review of parenting interventions in foster care and adoption

Nikita K. Schoemaker, Wilma G. M. Wentholt, Anouk Goemans, Harriet J. Vermeer, Femmie Juffer and Lenneke R. A. Alink - Development and Psychopathology, 15 Apr 2019

In the current study, a series of eight meta-analyses were performed to examine the effectiveness of intervention programs to help foster and adoptive parents to overcome challenges on four parent outcomes, three child outcomes, and placement disruption.

Country Care Review: Niger

Better Care Network, 09 Apr 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 its examination of Niger's initial reports, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review.

Social Workers’ Reflections on Ethics in Relation to Adoption in the UK: Everywhere but Nowhere?

Brid Featherstone & Anna Gupta - The British Journal of Social Work, 09 Apr 2019

Empirical research with social workers exploring their understandings and use of codes or ethical theories in practice remain underdeveloped in the UK. This article, based on the British Association of Social Work commissioned Enquiry into the role of the social worker in adoption with a focus on ethics and human rights, provides an important contribution in this context.

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Country Care Review: Senegal

Better Care Network, 09 Apr 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.

Risk and protective factors among Korean adult international adoptees: A latent class analysis

Jayashree Mohanty, Srinivasan Chokkanathan, Wansoo Park - Children and Youth Services Review, 26 Mar 2019

The first aim of this study was to find subgroups of adult international adoptees based on common risk and protective factors using a latent class analysis. The second aim was to examine whether the identified subgroups differed in outcome variables such as life satisfaction and psychological adjustment.

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