How to initiate matching of the child and the family?

• Step 1

  Monitor the online resources posting information on children. Information on children available for adoption can be found at the website of the Ministry of Social Policy, as well as certain charitable organisations.

• Step 2

  Collect information about the children you are interested in. Make a list of the children you are interested in. Write down their names, registration numbers, and the contact details of the respective children’s services. Save links to their profiles.

• Step 3

  Contact the children’s services where the child is registered to get basic information about the child. This will help you get the information you will need for future decisions.

• Step 4

  Schedule a visit to the Children’s Service to obtain more detailed information. This will help you get all the information available, and decide if you are ready to meet the child. Remember that the child can be registered with the Children’s Service in the territory of your place of residence, or in any part of the country.

• Remember

  This approach will help you save time and energy during the search. It will also help to structure the information you have obtained, and make reasoned decisions on further steps in interacting with the child. Remember that before you meet the child in-person, you must gather as much information on them as possible so that your decision to meet the child will be reasoned. Refusal to adopt the child after meeting them in person can have a negative impact on the child and inflict additional damage.

How to prepare for meeting the child in person?

• Step 1

  Collect information about the child, and study it thoroughly. Adopting parent candidates are provided with information about the child, including data about their personal file, medical record, life history, details about their development, conduct, abilities, traits and character, as well as recommendations for communicating with, and caring for, the child. You should also learn if the child has any triggers associated with any traumatic experiences in their past. This will help you to avoid mistakes during the first meeting and subsequent communication. You must know, before the first meeting, whether there is information that is of critical significance to your decision to offer your family to the child.

• Step 2

  The adopting parent candidates meet with the child in their territory. This meeting takes place in the presence of a representative of the Children’s Service, as well as the child’s current caregivers. A psychologist may also attend the meeting. You must prepare for the first meeting thoroughly. There is a separate discussion about the first meeting included in the training for adopting parent candidates. You should read the materials and recommendations on meeting the child for the first time, which includes how to introduce yourself, how to behave, how to respond to emotional changes, what should be worn to the first meeting, the importance of avoiding promises, the recommended duration of the meeting etc.

• Step 3

  Communicate with the child on a regular basis. To establish better contact, candidates have the right to visit a child daily while the referral to the meeting is valid. The referral is valid for ten business days from the date of issue. Please note that, after the contact with the child is established and the statement of intention to adopt is filed with the Children’s Service, the adopting parent candidates have the right to continue daily communication with the child until the court decision on adoption enters into force.
  In-person interactions are carried out at specially designated premises at place of child’s current residence or outside the establishment, depending on weather conditions and with the permission of the persons responsible for the child at this point of time. If the child resides with a family, communication can be carried out at the residential premises upon consent of the caregivers/foster parents/guardians/custodians. Оnce the intention to adopt is filed with Children’s Services regular meetings and communication between the child and adopting parents can occur.

• Step 4

  Submit an application for adoption. After the contact is established, and if they intend to adopt the child, the candidates shall submit an application to the children’s service, which draws up an opinion on expediency of adoption. This opinion will be a basis for filing an application to court to finalise adoption. It allows continuing daily communication with the child until the official court decision on adoption is taken.

• Remember

  Adoption is a mutual choice!
  

  Adoption of a specific child takes more than your intention. The child must also express their opinion. The Children’s Service will find out if the child agrees to the adoption. It is done with due consideration of the child’s age and evolving capacities. Children raised in institutions begin to understand at a very young age why adults come to visit them, and that these adults could become their parents. Therefore, subject to the child’s age, they will be asked if they enjoy spending time with you and want to live with you. If the child can write, they will be asked to express their assent in writing.

  Adoption can be carried out without the child’s assent if their age or development level prevents them from understanding the realities of adoption.