Investigating the barriers to local adoption in Malta

Abstract

The present study was commissioned by the Ministry for the Family, Children’s Rights and Social Solidarity (MFCS) within the Government of Malta. In view of the relatively low number of local adoptions - as compared to intercountry adoptions - by Maltese individuals and couples, the Ministry wanted to understand how the present adoption situation can be improved for the approximately 480 children in Malta who are currently residing in out-of-home care. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the barriers that are currently hindering prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) in Malta from opting for local adoption. In order to achieve this aim, the following research questions guided this study: ● What are the barriers contributing to the low numbers of children adopted locally? ● How can identified barriers be overcome or mitigated? In order to answer these research questions, various methods of gathering primary and secondary qualitative data were utilised, specifically: (i) A literature review of existing international and local literature and legislation regarding local adoptions in Malta; (ii) Interviews & Online Questionnaires with various key people in the adoption process, including: (a) Adoptive parents in Malta (b) Prospective adoptive parents in Malta (c) Foster carers in Malta (d) Relevant stakeholders

The barriers identified with regard to local adoptions consist of four overarching categories of themes, these being (i) cultural, (ii) institutional, (iii) financial, and (iv) legal. (i) Cultural barriers (pp. 32-38) include the lack of anonymity due to the small size of Malta. This created fears in prospective adoptive parents that biological parents may try to look for their children at the time of adoption or at some later point. Other barriers included the perception that intercountry adoptions presented less problems than local adoptions, the belief that local adoptions are highly unlikely or impossible, as well as apprehension about open adoption. (ii) Institutional barriers (pp. 38-52) included the lack of availability of legally adoptable children in Malta due to their not being freed for adoption, the lack of judicial backing for social workers’ decisions, the large caseloads of social workers and their not having enough power to pursue cases where children in care can be freed for adoption. Other barriers included institutional outlooks such as differences in opinion between social workers pursuing a recommendation for freeing a child for adoption and the opinion of the Children’s and Young Persons Advisory Board (hereafter referred to as the Advisory Board), the composition of which was also cited as a barrier. Further barriers identified include possible conflicting interests of social workers working with the children and their biological family simultaneously. (iii) Financial barriers (pp. 52-57) include the reduction of financial benefits in the case of foster carers who decide to adopt the child, as well as a lack of grant that reimburses prospective adoptive parents who adopt locally. (iv) Legal barriers (pp. 57-66) to local adoption include a great emphasis on parental consent with biological parents given preference even at times when it could be detrimental with regard to the best interest of a child. Another barrier is the lack of resort to dispensation of parental consent in circumstances that are already defined in the Civil Code. The report concludes with a set of 25 recommendations for policy and practice (pp. 68-70) with regard to each of the identified categories of barriers to local adoption in Malta.