The US annually conducts the largest number of domestic and in-bound intercountry adoptions of any country in the world. In 2008, approximately 150,000 children were adopted in, or to, the US. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption) However, there are 129,000 children with no permanent solutions languishing in our public child welfare system, and 24,000 children age out of care annually. (Youth Aging Out of Foster Care: Identifying Strategies and Best Practices: NACO, February 2008) It is essential that we take a hard look at our domestic and intercountry adoption practices to ensure that everything is being done to promote solutions that protect the permanency, safety, and well-being of all children. This requires that the principle of subsidiarity be at the center of all discussions about best practices in child welfare.

The principle of subsidiarity, as applied to child welfare, states that it is in the best interest of children to be raised by family or kin. If immediate family/kin is unable, or unavailable, domestic placement with a foster or adoptive family is the next best option. Finally, if neither of these alternatives is viable, then permanent placement with an appropriate family in another country through intercountry adoption is best.

This article describes the origin of the principle of subsidiarity, discusses the two multilateral treaties that include language about the principle, and explores what subsidiarity means for the practice of child welfare in America.

The principle of subsidiarity was the result of a landmark judgment: Laxmikant Pandey v. Union of India in 1984. The Supreme Court of India found that preference must be given to finding homes in India for orphaned children before considering intercountry adoption. Supreme Court lawyer Laxmikant Pandey initiated this case. Pandey wanted to alert the judiciary to alleged fraudulent practices and illegalities involving intercountry adoptions. He petitioned the government to investigate current practices and develop standards for when it is appropriate for Indian children to be adopted by foreigners. The decision reflected a revolutionary approach to intercountry adoptions. It would be another five years before the principle was present in multilateral treaties. (http://csa.org.in/SC1984Feb06.htm).

The principle of subsidiarity was introduced in 1986, in the UN “Declaration on Social and Legal Principles Relating to the Protection and Welfare of Children with Special Reference to Foster Placement Nationally and Internationally.” Article 17 states: “If a child cannot be placed in a foster or an adoptive family or cannot in any suitable manner be cared for in the country of origin, intercountry adoption may be considered as an alternative means of providing the child with a family.” In 1989, Article 21(b) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child stated, “Intercountry adoption may be considered as an alternative means of child’s care, if the child cannot be placed in a foster or an adoptive family or cannot in any suitable manner be cared for in the child’s country of origin.” The US has signed, but not ratified, this treaty.

The Flemish Center for Adoption (VCA) is currently working on a renewed system for (intercountry) adoption . This reform is commissioned by the Flemish Government following the final report of the expert panel on intercountry adoption that was published in September 2021.

The focus is on three 'recruitments':

1. strengthening partnerships with the countries of origin,

2. linking foster care and adoption,

3. focusing on aftercare and guidance during adoption.

Introduce…

Fiom is the center of expertise in the field of unwanted pregnancy, distance & adoption and related questions. We offer information and help with unwanted pregnancies, information and aftercare in the field of adoption and guide people in their search for biological family in the Netherlands and abroad. We also manage the KID-DNA Database, which enables a match between a donor child and an anonymous donor.

The starting point of working at Fiom is the right of self-determination of unwanted pregnant women, the right of a child to know where it comes from and to grow up while retaining its own identity. In addition, we recently started with the establishment and design of the Expertise Center for Intercountry Adoption . We do all this with approximately 85 passionate employees from our offices in 's-Hertogenbosch and Houten and from our home workplaces.

Fiom has the Dutch representation of the International Social Service (ISS) network in its organization. ISS is an international social work organization with headquarters in Geneva and a network in more than 100 countries. Within Fiom, the ISS department, with the help of its international network, is involved in international searches for first- or second-degree relatives of the seeker (both adoption-related and non-adoption-related).

For team ISS we are looking for a

Introduce…

Fiom is the center of expertise in the field of unwanted pregnancy, distance & adoption and related questions. We offer information and help with unwanted pregnancies, information and aftercare in the field of adoption and guide people in their search for biological family in the Netherlands and abroad. We also manage the KID-DNA Database, which enables a match between a donor child and an anonymous donor.

The starting point of working at Fiom is the right of self-determination of unwanted pregnant women, the right of a child to know where it comes from and to grow up while retaining its own identity. In addition, we recently started with the establishment and design of the Expertise Center for Intercountry Adoption . We do all this with approximately 85 passionate employees from our offices in 's-Hertogenbosch and Houten and from our home workplaces.

Fiom has the Dutch representation of the International Social Service (ISS) network in its organization. ISS is an international social work organization with headquarters in Geneva and a network in more than 100 countries. Within Fiom, the ISS department, with the help of its international network, is involved in international searches for first- or second-degree relatives of the seeker (both adoption-related and non-adoption-related).

For team ISS we are looking for a

Genesis of the project:

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Over the past few decades, a significant number of international adoptions have taken place from abroad to France. More and more people adopted in the 80s, 90s or early 2000s feel the legitimate need to research their origins and access their right to identity.

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This research is a complex process and not without risk. Thus being able to support them is today the great challenge to be met by the central authorities and all those involved in adoption, as evidenced by recommendation number 31 of the special commission of July 2022 on the practical operation of the Hague Convention of 1993 on child protection and cooperation in intercountry adoption .

Throughout the year, ISS members work together in working groups on topics related to ISS core activities.

At the 2022 International Council, a working group on Search for Origins, led by Sandrine PEPIT, Director of ISS France, Droit d'Enfance - Fondation Méquignon was established. An increasing number of adoptees are searching for their origins and at the same time, many countries are introducing specialized post adoption support and services.

The ISS Network already has a vast expertise in providing pre and post adoption services and would like to build further on this expertise and knowledge by mapping search for origins services offered by ISS network members, building capacities of ISS members end partners and develop advocacy and policy papers.

International Social Service Australia Het Afstammingscentrum

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I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION

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B. Measures taken to harmonize law and policy with the provisions of the Convention

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11. In the context of the improved legal framework for the protection of children, appropriate strategies have been developed on the basis of the following principles, which are to be found in the text of the Convention: assistance for families with one or more children to care for; every child has the right to a permanent family; every effort must be made to ensure that children placed in institutional care are reintegrated into their own family; when the natural or adoptive parents are incapable of caring for the child, the latter shall be considered to be in need of placement, temporarily or permanently, in a substitute family; every special measure for the protection of the minor must take into account the general principle according to which "the needs of the child come first" and must take the wishes of the child into consideration; the development of minors who are the subject of a protective measure must be monitored and that measure must be changed if the needs and interests of the child so require; preventive steps must be taken to ensure that the minor is not exploited, neglected or abused; everything must be done to enable all the rights accorded to the child by the law to be exercised, solely in his interests.

Hope and Homes for Children, together with ECPAT, Terres des Hommes the Netherlands, the European Disability Forum, Eurochild, Missing Children Europe, International Social Service, Child Helpline International, Child Identity Protection, LUMOS, Street Child and Save the Children, welcome the European Commission’s proposal to review Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims.

This revision is both timely and necessary. We see in this revision a long-awaited opportunity to further strengthen the Directive by adding a special mention of the phenomenon of institution-related trafficking and introducing specific measures to uphold the rights of all children, including children deprived of parental care.

The link between institutions and human trafficking was recognised by the United Nations and the Council of Europe. While the European Union has committed to supporting and promoting the transition from institutional to community and family-based care in its most relevant funding regulations and relevant policies, it has never officially recognised the connection between trafficking and institutionalisation in its policies or legislation.

Institution-related trafficking constitutes a threat to a broad range of children’s rights. Therefore, the European Union should recognise the link between child trafficking and institutions and address and prevent these grave human rights violations.

ISS is delighted to support and partner with the Alliance of Foundations for the Strengthening of Foster Care (FAE Alliance) in Chile.

The FAE Alliance, in close collaboration with Chilean child welfare authorities, Servicio Mejor Niñez, will support residential facilities seeking to transition to foster care support and community-based care in different regions of the country.

A first field mission will take place in mid-May to participate in different meetings, capacity building and awareness raising sessions with key stakeholders.

We would like to warmly thank the FAE Alliance for its strong commitment and collaboration with ISS.

Together we are one step closer to transforming children’s lives!

Racine

Over the past 20 years a significant number of intercountry adoptions have taken place from abroad to France. The adoptees of the early 2000s are now major or in the process of becoming so. Also, more and more of them feel the legitimate need to search for their origins. Because this research is a complex and not without risk, being able to support them is today the great challenge to be taken up for the central authorities and all the actors of the adoption.

In order to offer comprehensive, free and quality support to adoptees wishing to reconnect with their origins, the ISS France launched on September 29, 2021, during a webinar, the RACINE project (Search for origins, Support, Cooperation, Identification of partners, Narration, Listening).

Supported financially by the International Adoption Mission of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (Central Authority responsible for intercountry adoption) in its pilot phase, this project will focus on three countries chosen due to the large number of 'adoptions that have been carried out there and / or the large number of requests currently received by the French central authority:

Ethiopia (4,303 adoptions to France between 2001 and 2020)