Foreign Adoptions
Persons who are not citizens of Sri Lanka and not domiciled or resident in Sri Lanka are considered as foreign applicants. As per the Adoption of Children Ordinance No. 24 of 1941 (Amendment No. 15 of 1992), a foreign applicant should submit a Home Study Report and a Police Report issued by the country of the applicant and other documents to the Commissioner of Department of Probation and Child Care Services through the Sri Lankan Embassy in that country.
In addition, it is necessary to follow the rules and regulations in the Hague Adoption Convention. If no local applicant is available to adopt a particular child, only the Commissioner of the Department of Probation and Child Care Services has the authority of allocating a child living in a Children’s Home registered under the Orphanages Ordinance for foreign applicants. No foreign applicant is allowed to select children. All matters in relation to the adoption are taken place between the state organizations of the applicant’s state of residence and the local central authority as per Hague Convention, the Department of Probation and Child Care Services.
Guidelines on Foreign Adoptions and Annexures.
The Department of Probation and Child Care Services, functioning under the Central Government, provides funds for the 09 Provincial Departments of Probation and Child Care Services for the protection of orphaned, abandoned and destitute children and to bring about a sound mental development of such children. These funds are provided after prioritizing the requests received by the Provincial Probation Officers and are monitored regularly.
Every year, the Department of Probation and Child Care Services takes measures such as fixing CCTV cameras, putting up fences, gates and walls to enhance the protection of children in children’s homes and also to upgrade basic facilities such as building up water tanks, lavatories etc.
In addition to upgrading the children’s homes in the 9 provinces, steps are taken annually to uplift the resources of the National Center for Counseling and Training of Children which is under the supervision of the Department of Probation and Child Care Services.
The Department also takes action to develop the skills of the children in the children’s homes who have completed 18 years. Under this, leadership development programmes, entertainment programmes, children’s camps, trips, sport competitions, “Sil” campaigns, “sharamadhana” campaigns are conducted. Trainings on painting, hand crafts, sewing, bakery product preparation, shoe and bag sewing are given to develop vocational skills of the children.
Providing necessary equipment for the children’s homes and identifying issues in relation to improving the output of these centers are done under supervision of children’s homes. Moreover, trainings are conducted to the staff since regular training of the human resource working with these children is a necessity.
Accordingly, the Department of Probation and Child Care Services spends around Rs. 15 million annually for the upgrading of physical and human resource of children’s homes.
In addition, various projects are carried out in relation to upgrading of children’s homes from the financial assistances of non-governmental organizations.