Adoption Services

 

The objective of this Unit is to find suitable alternative families for children who, for some reason or other, cannot live with their natural parent/s. It assists prospective adoptive parents who apply for local or inter-country adoptions. The services offered include counseling, information, training/preparation through group meetings for prospective adoptive parents and assessments of the prospective adoptive parents. Post-adoption work is carried out with adopted children and also tracing of natural parents of adopted adults. In assessing the applicants for suitability, the Unit is advised by the Adoption and Fostering Panel of the same Department.

 

Department for Social Welfare Standards

 

Guidelines for Prospective Adoptive Parents, issued by the Adoption Unit within the Department for Social Welfare Standards.

 

As stipulated in the Law "Of Adoption" Civil Code Chapter 16, Title III, Article: 115 (1)a,b (2)a,b,c,d (4)a,b

 

Persons interested in adopting a child are to seek advice from the Department for Social Welfare Standards on the proper procedures to be adopted. Those who apply with the Department, whether it is a local or inter-country adoption, are to fill an application form requesting a declaration of eligibility and suitability. They will then attend preparation group sessions and subsequent assessment, which normally would take seven to ten weeks to carry out. A declaration of eligibility and suitability is issued in favour of those applicants who are eligible as stipulated in the Civil Code and who are assessed or suitable by a Social Worker following a Home Study Report.

 

The following are the documents required from prospective adoptive parents 1) A formal birth certificate of Husband from Public Registry; 2) A formal birth certificate of Wife from Public Registry; 3) A formal marriage certificate from Public Registry; 4) Certificate of good conduct of Husband from Police Headquarters; 5) Certificate of good conduct of Wife from Police Headquarters; 6) Blood Tests for HIV & Hepatitis B of Husband; 7) Blood Tests for HIV & Hepatitis B of Wife; 8) A signed permission to the social worker to request medical information from the family General Practitioner; 9) Statement/s of family income; 10) Photo of Husband (passport size ? colour); 11) Photo of Wife (passport size ? colour); 12) A family photo of the prospective adoptive family. The following are the documents required from prospective adoptive parents 1) A formal birth certificate of Husband from Public Registry; 2) A formal birth certificate of Wife from Public Registry; 3) A formal marriage certificate from Public Registry; 4) Certificate of good conduct of Husband from Police Headquarters; 5) Certificate of good conduct of Wife from Police Headquarters; 6) Blood Tests for HIV & Hepatitis B of Husband; 7) Blood Tests for HIV & Hepatitis B of Wife; 8) A signed permission to the social worker to request medical information from the family General Practitioner; 9) Statement/s of family income; 10) Photo of Husband (passport size ? colour); 11) Photo of Wife (passport size ? colour); 12) A family photo of the prospective adoptive family.

 

No processing fees are incurred in making use of this service. Test.

 

Others

 

Prescribed application form for Adoption Unit

 

Department	Department for Social Welfare Standards
Postal address	469, St Joseph High Road, Santa Venera
email	laura.agius@gov.mt
Telephone	21483116/8 Ext 318
Fax	21447611/21470879

Winter - Monday to Friday	08.00 - 16.30
Summer - Monday to Friday	7.45 - 12.45

 

Q: WHAT DOES THE ASSESSMENT TO BECOME ADOPTIVE PARENTS INVOLVE?

The social worker assesses the suitability of the applicants by visiting them at home to discuss motivation and reason for wanting to adopt, personality, stability of marriage (if married), lifestyle and hobbies, home environment, health conditions, prospects for the child, age and gender of the child and possibility of adopting siblings or children with a disability.
 

Q: WHAT TYPE OF SUPPORT IS OFFERED TO PROSPECTIVE ADOPTIVE FAMILIES, BOTH BEFORE THE ADOPTION AND AFTER?

Before adoption, guidance, through the legal procedures to adopt, support and social work intervention by the social worker working with the family is provided. Once adoption takes place, the adoptive family can keep contact with the social worker from the Adoption Unit through home visits and discuss issues that might come up during the placement. Parenting skills courses and referrals to other agencies are also possible if the need arises.
 

Q: IN CARRYING OUT AN ADOPTION, ARE ADOPTIVE PARENTS ELIGIBLE FOR ANY TYPE OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FROM THE GOVERNMENT?

No they are not eligible for any financial assistance.
 

Q: HOW LONG IS THE PROCESS OF ADOPTION

As soon as a prospective adopter/s fills in an inquiry form through their first interview with the Unit’s social worker, applicants are put on a waiting list to attend the preparation group sessions organized by the Unit. After attending the group sessions, applicants will have to decide whether they would like to carry on with their application. The second phase would be for the prospective adoptive family to start the Home Study Report. For inter-country adoptions, where there are children available for adoptions, about a year is needed to finalize all the work required for an adoption. For local adoptions, this depends on the availability of children who need an adoptive placement, since there are few children for adoption. The adoption process in the Maltese courts takes three months to be finalized.
 

Q: CAN PROSPECTIVE ADOPTIVE PARENTS CHOOSE THE CHILD TO ADOPT OR IS THE CHILD CHOSEN BY THE SOCIAL WORKER?

In local adoption it is the Adoption Unit that does the matching of the child with his/her prospective adoptive parents in accordance to the waiting list of the Unit. In foreign adoption, this is done by the adoption agency responsible for placing children for adoption or competent authority in the donor country.
 

Q: IF THE PROSPECTIVE ADOPTIVE CHILD HAS OTHER SIBLINGS IS HE/SHE SEPARATED FROM THEM OR ARE BROTHERS AND SISTERS ADOPTED BY THE SAME ADOPTIVE FAMILY?

If possible, siblings are adopted in the same adoptive family.
 

Q: ONCE A CHILD IS ADOPTED IS HE/SHE EXPECTED TO MAINTAIN CONTACT WITH HIS/HER NATURAL FAMILY?

No, adoptive parents become the only parents of that child and are fully responsible for the adopted child. Upon reaching his/her eighteenth birthday, an adopted person has the right to search for his/her natural family.
 

Q: HOW CAN I PREPARE MYSELF AND GET MORE INFORMATION TO BECOME AN ADOPTIVE PARENT?

The Adoption Unit within the Department for Social Welfare Standards organizes preparation group sessions for prospective adoptive parents. In these group sessions, prospective adoptive parents are informed and prepared about adoption issues. These group sessions are held at the Department once a week over a period of six (6) weeks. These sessions are meant to help prospective adoptive parents to decide whether adoption is the right choice, learn about their motivation to adopt, explore their ideas and feelings about adoption and readiness to parent other people's children. Topics covered are:- 1) Introduction to Adoption: Adopted children's dual identity and their birth families and background. 2) Separation and attachments that children have to make when adopted and parenting issues. 3) Meeting with experienced adopters. 4) Helping an adopted child to settle in his/her adoptive family. 5) Helping children who have been abused. 6) What happens next? Overview about the assessment procedures.
 

Q: IN THE CASE OF INTER-COUNTRY ADOPTIONS, ARE THERE ANY DIFFERENT PROCEDURES THAT NEED TO BE FOLLOWED?

All procedures before the adoption are the same, whether the adoption is local or inter-country. However, in the case of the latter, once the child arrives in Malta, the adoptive parents have to: 1) Inform the Department for Social Welfare Standards of the child's arrival, 2) Take the child to the Paediatrics Dept. at St. Luke's Hospital for health check-ups, 3) Apply for (means tested) Children's Allowance at the Social Security Department, 4) Start the legal proceedings in the Maltese Courts. The adoptive parents can collect the child's birth certificate from the Public Registry, two weeks after the finalisation of the legal adoption in the Maltese Courts. A social worker from the Adoption Unit visits the child and the family and writes a report describing the progress and the integration of the child within the adoptive family. This is done after the adoptive parents give their consent to the social worker to visit them and their child and to send the post-adoption report to the donor country according to the Bilateral Agreement in order to monitor in the best interest of the child and to ensure continuity of inter-country adoptions agreements.
 

 

 

Police Department, Department of Health, Appogg