Children from Poland and Latvia in need of permanent homes would now
benefit from the new intercountry adoption programmes of the Australian
government. The government announced that it will be providing
appropriate families for children who can’t find adopting homes within
the two European countries.
Establishing the adoption programmes, the government will be funding
the not-for-profit organisation LifeWorks Relationship Counselling and
Education Services with $3.5 million for four years for its family
support services. The organisation will be working for families and
children under the intercountry adoption process.
Minister for Social Services Christian Porter said that Poland and
Latvia already have a strong commitment to help children in need to find
families in their borders. The collaboration aims to provide services
for older children, those with medical needs and sibling groups.
"We are delighted to be extending our expertise to supporting and
assisting families through the intercountry adoption process and
beyond,” said LifeWorks CEO Janet Jukes. “The programme model will focus
on issues of family formation and family stress, providing tools and
supports that result in the effective establishment of a strong,
positive and healthy family unit."
The government and LifeWorks will work with the International Social
Service, or ISS, Australia to provide the intercountry adoption
services. The ISS will provide specialist services for adopting parents
when taking their child to Australia from other countries and will also
assist families with relationship counselling and parenting support
services.
To date, the government is aiming to establish more intercountry
adoption programmes with other countries. Porter said that there will be
a discussion between the government and Bulgaria about a possible new
programme within the current week. Officials are also pushing for a talk
with Vietnam for a potential programme.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of
Immigration and Border Protection have also deployed officers to
overseas locations, including China, South Korea, Hong Kong, the
Philippines, Thailand and Chile, to establish the intercountry adoption
reforms.
The officers will work to guide adoptive parents to access in-country
support services and help adopting families to process visas and other
citizenship matters.
http://www.ibtimes.com.au/australia-opens-new-intercountry-adoption-programmes-poland-latvia-1481952
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