Adoption permission administration guidelines
In its guidelines, the Adoption Board highlights points that have emerged in the permission process and that should be given particular attention. The guidelines are updated as necessary and should thus be reviewed regularly.
General steering of adoption counselling falls within the purview of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has published a guide for adoption counselling service providers, which should be used in preparing homestudy reports. This guide can be found at the bottom of this page.
A medical statement of the applicant’s health (T certificate) must always be appended to the adoption application. The T certificate must be submitted in its entirety, i.e. showing all the information entered on it. The T certificate must not be more than one year old when received by the Board. The applicant must countersign the T certificate to confirm its content.
If the applicant has a chronic illness or other condition or injury that restricts his/her capability for caring for a child, or if his/her prognosis is poor, the applicant must submit a medical statement from a specialist concerning his/her state of health to the Adoption Board.
The medical statement from a specialist should address at least the following issues:
- How does your state of health affect your functional capacity?
- What is your general condition and how is your functional capacity at the moment? Does your illness cause symptoms, and if so, what?
- Do you have medication for your illness?
- Overall evaluation by the physician of how your health, your symptoms and any associated diseases are likely to develop in the future. How is your illness likely to affect your ability to bring up the adopted child and care for him/her until adulthood?
- Does your illness affect your life expectancy, and if so, how?
- Receiving an adopted child in the family may be a highly stressful and resource-intensive period in a person’s life. How would your illness react to severe stress? How does the physician consider that any eventual crisis stemming from the arrival of an adopted child might affect your health?
The specialist’s statement to be submitted to the Adoption Board must be no more than 6 months old when received by the Board. In the statement, the specialist must specifically evaluate how the applicant’s illness has a bearing on adopted parenthood. If the physician has not made such an evaluation, the Board will have to ask for a further clarification.
The Adoption Board evaluates the health of the applicant vis-à-vis the best interests of the prospective adoptee. It is important for applicants to be of sound mind and body so as to be able to provide the adopted child with good care and upbringing until adulthood. The best interest of the child is always paramount in the deliberations of the Adoption Board, and the health of the applicant is considered on a case-by-case basis.
Under the Adoption Act, the adoption counselling provider must obtain a statement on the circumstances of the child and of the applicants from the authorities in the wellbeing services county in which their domicile is. Such a statement may basically not be more than one year old when received by the Adoption Board.
A recent statement from the wellbeing services county is also required when applying for an extension to an adoption permission.
If the applicant is in a registered partnership or cohabiting partnership, the applicant’s partner must give his/her consent for adoption in order for an adoption licence to be granted. For this purpose, a copy of a document signed by the applicant’s partner consenting to adoption of a minor child must be appended to the adoption counselling report on the applicant.
The giving of such consent is specified in the Adoption Act. Consent must be given in writing. The consent document must be dated, and the person giving his/her consent must sign it. The consent document must be presented in person to the adoption counsellor.
Adoption counselling will also be provided to the applicant’s partner. The criminal records of all adults living in the same household with the applicant must be reviewed during the adoption counselling.
During adoption counselling, the applicants’ criminal record, police record and details on domestic alerts, if any, must be checked. Such a check may not be more than one year old when the application is received by the Adoption Board.
If the adoption counselling is provided by a wellbeing services county, they are entitled to obtain police record details directly pursuant to section 20 of the Act on the Status and Rights of Social Welfare Clients.
If the adoption counselling is provided by an adoption agency (in practice, this would be Save the Children Finland), the agency must request the wellbeing services county where the applicants are resident to check police records in connection with requesting a statement on the applicant’s circumstances under section 24 of the Adoption Act.
An extract from the applicants’ police records must not be submitted to the Adoption Board as is. It is sufficient to indicate in the homestudy report that the police records check has been performed. If there are any entries in the applicant’s police record that are likely to have a bearing on adopted parenthood, then those entries must be detailed in the report on home circumstances. Otherwise, the homestudy report only has to indicate that the applicant’s police record has been checked and give the date when the check was performed. The evaluation of whether any entry in the applicant’s police record might have a bearing on adoptive parenthood shall be made by the wellbeing services county.
Every homestudy report must mention that the police record and information on domestic alerts, if any, have been checked. If this mention is missing, the Adoption Board will have to request a further clarification.