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.

Displaying 531 - 540 of 662

Browse Other Topics

Social Justice and Intercountry Adoptions: The Role of the U.S. Social Work Community

Jini L. Roby, Karen Rotabi, and Kelley M. Bunkers , 19 Sep 2013

Using social justice as the conceptual foundation, the authors present the structural barriers to socially just intercountry adoptions (ICAs) that can exploit and oppress vulnerable children and families participating in ICAs. They argue that such practices threaten the integrity of social work practice in that arena and the survival of ICA as a placement option.

USA: Trends in Foster Care and Adoption (2002-2012)

U.S. Children's Bureau, 13 Sep 2013

This chart produced by the US Government's Children's Bureau includes data submitted to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) by US States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico by July 19, 2013.

Better Care Network, 22 Jul 2013

India submitted its third and fourth combined report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Alternative Care Panel (Video)

Child’s i Foundation, 11 Jul 2013

This video describes the work of the Alternative Care Panel in Uganda, a panel composed of professionals who assess the stability of potential adoptive or foster parents to determine if the parents can provide for needy and vulnerable children, with the ultimate goal of keeping children out of institutional settings and in family-based care.

Adoption from Viet Nam: Findings and recommendations of an assessment

Hervé Boéchat, Nigel Cantwell and Mia Dambach, 08 Jul 2013

The main aims of this assessment were to identify and address problems in both the domestic and intercountry adoption processes, with a view to assisting Viet Nam in its preparations to accede to the 1993 Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption (THC-93); and to review the new draft law on adoption, and propose any amendments that may appear necessary to ensure compliance with international standards and good practice.

Country Care Review: Israel

Better Care Network, 04 Jul 2013

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of its examination during the sixty-third session (27 May-14 June 2013) of Israel’s second to fourth periodic reports to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.

Parenting a Child Who Has Been Sexually Abused: A Guide for Foster and Adoptive Parents

Child Welfare Information Gateway, 01 Jul 2013

This factsheet is designed for caregivers and discusses how they can help children in their care by educating themselves about child sexual abuse, establishing guidelines for safety and privacy in their families, and understanding when and how to seek help if needed.

Permanency for Children: The Development of the BCS Global Foster-to-Adopt Pilot Project in Ethiopia

Bethany Christian Services Global, LLC , 01 Jul 2013

This report provides initial documentation of a pilot program launched by Bethany Christian Services in 2009 in Ethiopia. The pilot aims at moving children from institutional care to family-based care by developing alternative family care for non-relative children using a foster-to-adopt approach, working through a partnership between faith communities in Ethiopia and American faith congregations in the US.

Children without parental care in Poland: Foster care, institutionalization and adoption

Sandra Knuiman, Catharina HAM Rijk, René AC Hoksbergen and Anneloes L Van Baar, 05 Jun 2013

This article describes the historical background and current situation of the child welfare system for children without parental care in Poland.

View Article

UN CRC General Comment No. 14 (2013) on the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as primary consideration

Committee on the Rights of the Child, United Nations, 29 May 2013

General Comment 14, issued by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, refers to article 3, paragraph 1, of the Convention on the Rights of the Child that asserts the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as primary consideration in all actions or decisions that concern him or her (in both the public and private spheres).