SOCIAL WORKERS have expressed concern at what they say are serious gaps in planned new adoption laws which may hinder their work with adopted children and birth families.
The Irish Association of Social Workers said that, in general, it welcomes the new Adoption Bill which will put in place better safeguards for intercountry adoptions.
However, its spokesman Declan Coogan said members were worried that the legislation will not reflect best practices as applied by social workers working in adoption agencies in Ireland.
“Social workers in adoption agencies provide intermediary, information and tracing services to birth parents, adopted adults and to adoptive families, but there is no legislative basis for this essential work,” Mr Coogan said.
“We are calling for amendments to the draft of the Adoption Bill 2009 to reflect the realities of practice and to provide legislative basis for the work that is highly valued by people using adoption agencies”.
He also said the Bill did not contain any right to access original birth certificates for adopted adults. Mr Coogan said this has been the practice in the UK for many years. The opportunity for this may be lost indefinitely if this right in not included as an amendment to the current Bill, he said.
Social workers are also seeking an amendment which would permit the maintenance of meaningful contacts and access of an adopted child to natural parents where this is considered to be in the best interests of the child.
This provision was recommended by a consultation paper on adoption legislation issued by the Department of Health in 2003.
In addition, it wants guarantees on post-adoption health or education services for children adopted from other countries.
“These children can frequently present with unmet needs such as speech and language delays, emotional, behavioural and learning difficulties,” Mr Coogan said.
He said currently many children with complex needs – particularly those who have spent time in institutional care – do not have access to the kind of specialist services they need.
The association has also proposed that there should be an adopted person over the age of 18 years on the board of the Adoption Board to represent the interests of those directly affected by adoption.
The Adoption Bill is due to be debated in the Oireachtas this week.
