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 Peer Relationships of Those Who Have Experienced Adoption or Foster Care: A Meta‐Analysis

Haylee K. DeLuca, Shannon E. Claxton, Manfred H. M. van Dulmen - Journal of Research on Adolescence, 25 Jun 2018

This meta‐analytic review examines the presence and quality of close peer relationships for adoptees and individuals with foster care experience.

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Coaching Parents About Children's Needs and Navigating the Child Protection and Other Systems

Frank Ainsworth and Patricia Hansen - Children Australia, 25 Jun 2018

This article reviews developments in the Australian NSW child protection system which aim to reduce the number of children in state care.

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Sibling Relationships in Adoptive Families That Disrupted or Were in Crisis

Julie Selwyn - Research on Social Work Practice, 25 Jun 2018

The study from the Special Issue on Adoption Breakdown of the journal of Research on Social Work Practice investigated whether sibling relationships influenced the outcomes of a sample of adoptive placements in England and Wales that had broken down postorder or were in crisis.

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Commentary: Understanding Research, Policy, and Practice Issues in Adoption Instability

David Brodzinsky, Susan Livingston Smith - Research on Social Work Practice, 24 Jun 2018

This commentary from the Special Issue on Adoption Breakdown of the journal of Research on Social Work Practice highlights the authors’ conceptual and empirical contributions for understanding the incidence and dynamics of varying types of adoption breakdowns and their impact on adopted youth and their families.

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An exploration of family challenges and service needs during the post-adoption period

Jeffrey Waid, Emily Alewine - Children and Youth Services Review, 18 Jun 2018

This study investigated caregiver-initiated contacts to a statewide, phone-based adoption support program to understand the breadth and range of challenges families experienced during the post-adoption period.

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Externalizing behaviors among adopted children: A longitudinal comparison of preadoptive childhood sexual abuse and other forms of maltreatment

Thomas M. Crea, Scott D. Easton, Judith Florio, Richard P. Barth - Child Abuse & Neglect, 17 Jun 2018

The present study investigated: (a) rates of co-occurrence of pre-adoptive child sexual abuse (CSA) and maltreatment among adopted children, and (b) the relative impact of pre-adoptive CSA and maltreatment on externalizing behaviors at 14 years post-adoption.

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Adoption and permanence planning in Scotland: Impact of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 on key processes and timescales.

Hanson, Lucy and Henderson, Gillian and Kurlus, Indiya - Child and Family Social Work, 13 Jun 2018

This paper outlines key findings from the first comprehensive study of permanence planning in Scotland.

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Disclosure and identity experiences of adults abandoned as babies: A qualitative study

Lorraine Sherr, Kathryn J. Roberts & Natasha Croome - Cogent Psychology, 08 Jun 2018

This qualitative study examined disclosure for adult survivors of abandonment. Findings are centred around the experience of disclosure, the process of disclosure specifically exploring the role of half-truths and finally the impact of disclosure on the search for identity and self.

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A viable option: A national adoption framework

Jeremy Sammut - Centre for Independent Studies, 06 Jun 2018

This paper will examine recent initiatives to boost adoptions in New South Wales (NSW) and a way to roll out the core of these reforms nationally.

Further analysis of the British Chinese Adoption Study (BCAS): Adult life events and experiences after international adoption

Margaret Grant & Alan Rushton - Children and Youth Services Review, 05 Jun 2018

This paper seeks to contribute to debates about how people's adult lives unfold after experiencing childhood adversity. It presents analysis from the British Chinese Adoption Study: a mixed methods follow-up study of women, now aged in their 40s and early 50s, who spent their infant lives in Hong Kong orphanages and were then adopted by families in the UK in the 1960s.

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