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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Children and adolescents taken care by the state of Rio de Janeiro: is adoption the solution?

Sandro Pitthan Espindola, Marcos Besserman Viana, Maria Helena Barros de Oliveira - SAÚDE DEBATE , 19 Jun 2020

The purpose of this article is to discuss whether adoption, in the form in which it is systematized in Brazil, by the National Adoption Register, may be the solution to the serious problem of child and adolescent in risky situations of care, especially those living in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Psychological adjustment, attachment difficulties, and perceptions of family relationships in adopted and institution-reared children: The case of Chile

Pamela Jiménez-Etcheverría & Jesús Palacios - Children and Youth Services Review, 28 May 2020

The first aim of this study was to examine differences in the socio-emotional functioning of adopted and institution-reared children in Chile. The second aim of this study was to examine the influence of adoption related variables on the psychological adjustment of adopted children.

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Systematic literature review of foster and adoptive caregiver factors for increasing placement stability and permanency

Lori A. Vanderwill, Amy M. Salazar, Garrett Jenkins, Jessica De Larwelle, Amanda K. McMahon, Angelique Day, and Kevin Haggerty - Journal of Public Child Welfare, 13 May 2020

This study is a systematic review of the scholarly literature to better understand caregiver-related factors (e.g., characteristics, proficiencies) that contribute to permanency and placement stability, in order to provide a stronger foundation for developing and improving caregiver recruitment and training procedures.

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Attachment development in children adopted from China: the role of pre-adoption care and sensitive adoptive parenting

Chloë Finet, Theodore E. A. Waters, Harriet J. Vermeer, Marinus H. Van IJzendoorn, Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg, Guy Bosmans - Attachment & Human Development, 12 May 2020

The current study examined the attachment development of 92 internationally adopted Chinese girls, focusing on the influence of type of pre-adoption care (institutional versus foster care) and sensitive adoptive parenting.

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Assessing caregiver usability of the National Training and Development Curriculum for Foster and Adoptive Parents

Amy M. Salazar - Children and Youth Services Review, 25 Apr 2020

This study summarizes findings from caregiver usability tests, and provides a wide variety of caregiver-generated suggestions for improving foster and adoptive caregiver training curricula that are applicable to all caregiver training efforts.

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A child for every family? Characterizations of “adoptable” foster children in online permanency advocacy publications

Kristina M. Scharp & Lindsey J. Thomas - Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 20 Apr 2020

Framed by relational dialectics theory, a contrapuntal analysis of 104 photolistings examined the discursive tensions of what it means to be an “adoptable” child.

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International adoption of cleft lip and palate children: Attachment, behavior problems, and parental sensitivity

Valérie Losier, Chantal Cyra, Karine Dubois-Comtois - Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 14 Apr 2020

This study examined parent-child relationship variables (child attachment, parental sensitivity, and prior parenting experience) and child behavior problems in parents and their international adopted children with and without a cleft lip and palate.

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A Demographic Perspective on Childhood Adoptions in the U.S.

Mary Ann Davis - International Handbook on the Demography of Marriage and the Family, 01 Apr 2020

This chapter focuses on the U.S. as the nation with the largest number of adoptions. Although adoptions represent a small portion of family growth, from a demographer’s point of view they are worth investigating.

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Country Care Review: Tuvalu

Better Care Network, 31 Mar 2020

This country care review includes the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Predictors of parenting stress in Portuguese adolescents' adoptive parents

Isabel‐Sofia Costa, Maria Barbosa‐Ducharne, Jesús Palacios, Joana Soares - Child & Family Social Work, 16 Mar 2020

The present study aims to identify the adoptee, parents and family related predictors of the adoptive parents' parenting stress, exploring direct and indirect effects. Fifty Portuguese adolescents' adoptive parents participated in this study.

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