An association is raising the alarm about children awaiting adoption.

An association is raising the alarm about children awaiting adoption.

In a letter addressed Thursday, November 29, to Édouard Philippe and Agnès Buzyn, the main association of adoptive families is calling for a reform of adoption, in order to find families for the hundreds of children who remain on the waiting list each year.

An amendment introduced by the government to the bill aimed at banning spanking , currently being debated in the National Assembly, could change the lives of hundreds of children in state care who cannot find adoptive parents. 811 of them were in this situation in 2017. These are children born anonymously or placed in care by the Child Welfare Services (ASE) when parental rights have been revoked from their parents following abuse, among other things.

Not only are these children legally eligible for adoption, but adoption is considered the best "life plan" for them by the Family Council (the departmental body responsible for deciding on their support). Yet, of the 14,070 families approved for adoption that same year, none volunteered to take them in.

Specific profiles

This situation is not new. One explanation lies in the fact that these children have very specific profiles. They are either disabled, over 5 years old, or siblings. Yet, "70% of children adopted abroad have these same so-called 'specific' needs," notes Nathalie Parent, president of Enfance et familles d'adoption (EFA), one of the main representatives of adoption families, who doesn't see why "people would accept a child with this profile in another country and refuse those born in France."

According to her, another explanation lies in the current administrative system. In an open letter addressed to the Premier and the Minister of Solidarity, she calls on the government to take advantage of the reorganization it initiated through an amendment to address the underlying problem.

Helping the departments by cross-referencing the files

Indeed, the government wishes to merge the two entities responsible for overseeing adoption: the French Adoption Agency (AFA), responsible for international adoption, and the Giped Child Protection, responsible for the adoption of French children.

Nathalie Parent suggests that, as part of the merger, the AFA, which handles cases nationwide, should be authorized to assist the departments. "Currently, no organization cross-references cases at the national level. If no parent in a given department meets a child's needs, the child remains in an institution for life, even though there might be suitable candidates in another department."

The AFA could help cross-reference cases, and thus contribute to resolving part of the problem. "We could even imagine the AFA being able to offer these children for international adoption," continues Nathalie Parent. But for that to happen, France would have to agree to consider itself a country of origin, which is not currently the case.