Strengthening alternative child care adoption process

Policy and guiding principles

The State policy is to ensure that every child remains under the care and custody of the parents and is provided with love, care, understanding, and security toward the child’s full and harmonious development, with alternative care considered only when efforts prove insufficient and no appropriate placement or adoption by an unrelated person is available.
The best interest of the child is the paramount consideration in alternative care, custody, and adoption policies and must align with:
- Article 3 of Presidential Decree No. 603 (Child and Youth Welfare Code);
- the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC);
- the United Nations Guidelines on Alternative Care of Children;
- the United Nations Declaration on Social and Legal Principles Relating to the Protection and Welfare of Children with Special Internationallya; and
- the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption.
The State must:
- ensure alternative care options such as adoption and foster care for children without parental care or at risk of losing it;
- establish alternative care standards for quality of life and living conditions conducive to the child’s development;
- safeguard biological parents from hasty relinquishment of parental authority;
- prevent unnecessary separation of the child from biological parents;
- protect adoptive parents from attempts to disturb parental authority and custody over the adopted child;
- conduct public information and educational campaigns to promote adoption;
- ensure sufficient capacity in government and private agencies to handle adoption inquiries, petitions, and adoption-related services including pre- and post-adoption services;
- encourage domestic adoption to preserve the child’s identity and culture in the child’s native land and consider inter-country adoption only when domestic adoption is not feasible; and
- establish cooperation with the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) to prevent sale, trafficking, and abduction of children and to protect Filipino children abandoned overseas who are vulnerable due to irregular status.
No child may be subject of administrative adoption unless the status of the child has been declared legally available for adoption, except:
- relative or step-parent adoption, where such declaration is not required; and
- independent placement cases where the child is already in the custody of their custodian before the effectivity of the Act, covered by the Act’s provisions.
Administrative adoption processes for legally-available children, relative, stepchild, and adult adoptees are treated as the most expeditious proceedings for the child’s best interest.

Key definitions and coverage

Abandoned child means a child without proper parental care or guardianship, a foundling, or one deserted by parents for at least three (3) continuous months, and declared as such by the NACC.
Abandoned Filipino child in foreign country means an unregistered or undocumented child outside the Philippine territory, separated from or deserted by biological Filipino parent/guardian/custodian for at least three (3) continuous months, committed to a foreign orphanage/charitable institution or in temporary informal care, and declared as such by the NACC upon recommendation of OSWA (DSWD) or DFA.
Actual custodian refers to guardians or spouses who raised a child and consistently treated the child as their own.
Adoption is the socio-legal process of providing a permanent family to a child, permanently transferring all rights and responsibilities and filiation so the child becomes a legitimate child of the adoptive parents; adult adoption is covered by the Act, and adoption ceases to be alternative child care and becomes parental care as soon as the process is completed.
Alternative child care is planned substitute parental care for an orphaned, abandoned, neglected, or surrendered child by a child-caring or child-placing agency, including foster care, kinship care, family-like care, and residential care.
Child means a person below eighteen (18) years of age, or eighteen (18) years of age or over but unable to fully take care or protect himself or herself due to abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation, or discrimination because of physical or psychosocial disability or condition; for this Act, where relevant, child also refers to an adult son/daughter/offpsring.
Child Legally Available for Adoption (CLAA) refers to a child in whose favor the NACC issued certification that the child is legally available for adoption after abandonment or neglect is proven through submission of pertinent documents, or one voluntarily committed by the child’s parents/legal guardians.
Certificate Declaring a Child Legally Available for Adoption (CDCLAA) is the final written administrative order issued by the NACC declaring a child abandoned/neglected and committing the child to the care of the NACC through a foster parent, guardian, or duly licensed child-caring/child-placing agency, with biological parents’/guardian’s/custodian’s authority ceasing upon issuance.
Child-caring agency is a duly licensed and accredited DSWD agency providing twenty-four (24)-hour residential care services.
Child-placing agency is a private nonprofit/charitable or government agency duly licensed and accredited by DSWD providing comprehensive child welfare services including receiving and processing petitions, evaluating prospective adoptive or foster parents, and preparing child case study and home study reports.
Child case study report is prepared by an adoption social worker and includes legal status, placement history, biopsychosocial and spiritual aspects, case background, ethno-cultural background, and biological family background/history.
Child Placement Committee (CPC) is under the Deputy Director for Services and includes specified professionals (psychiatrist/psychologist, medical doctor, lawyer, adoption social worker, NGO representative engaged in child welfare, and other professionals as needed).
Deed of Voluntary Commitment (DVC) is a notarized instrument relinquishing parental authority and committing the child to the care of the NACC or child-placing/caring agency, signed in specified circumstances after counseling and after NACC encourages retention of the child where possible.
Domestic adoption is an administrative adoption proceeding where the Order of Adoption is issued within the Philippines between a Filipino child and eligible adoptive parents.
Inter-country adoption is adoption of a child by a foreign national or a Filipino citizen habitually resident outside the Philippines that complies with the Hague Convention of 1993.
Involuntarily committed child covers permanent deprivation of parental authority due to abandonment, substantial/continuous/repeated neglect, abuse, or incompetence to discharge responsibilities, by known/unknown parents.
Local Social Welfare Development Officer (LSWDO) is a duly licensed social worker appointed by the local chief executive to head the provincial/city/municipal social welfare development office.
Matching is selection of a family from regional/interregional levels based on the child’s needs and best interest and the capability/commitment of adoptive parents to form a mutually satisfying relationship.
Neglected child is a child whose physical and emotional needs are deliberately unattended or inadequately attended within three (3) continuous months.
Post-adoption services are psychosocial and support services after issuance of the Order of Adoption or equivalent final decree.
Pre-Adoption Placement Authority (PAPA) is authorization through the matching committee (RACCO) to deliberate matching of legally available children and approved PAPs.
Relative means someone other than family members within the fourth (4th) degree of consanguinity or affinity.
Simulation of birth record is tampering with civil registry records to make it appear that a child was born to a person who is not the biological mother, causing loss of true identity/status.
Social case study report includes the PAP’s capacity; efforts to locate biological parents/relatives; interventions given; adoption social worker assessment; and includes both child case study and home study reports.
Supervised trial custody (STC) is the period after placement in an adoptive home where an adoption social worker helps adjustment to facilitate the legal union through adoption.
Support includes sustenance, dwelling, clothing, medical attention, and education consistent with family financial capacity.
Voluntarily committed child is one whose parent/legal guardian knowingly and willingly relinquished parental authority to the NACC, DSWD, or duly accredited child-placing/caring agency/institution.

Creation and powers of NACC

The Inter-Country Adoption Board (ICAB) is reorganized into a one-step quasi-judicial agency on alternative child care known as the National Authority for Child Care (NACC), attached to the DSWD (Section 5).
All duties, functions, and responsibilities of the ICAB, the DSWD, and other government agencies relating to alternative child care and adoption are transferred to the NACC (Section 5).
The DBM, in coordination with the ICAB and DSWD, must formulate a cohesive organizational structure with plantilla positions responsive to the functions/divisions of the NACC (Section 5).
The NACC has original and exclusive jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to alternative child care including:
- declaring a child legally available for adoption;
- domestic administrative adoption;
- adult adoption;
- foster care under Republic Act No. 10165;
- adoptions under Republic Act No. 11222 (Simulated Birth Rectification Act);
- inter-country adoption under Republic Act No. 8043;
- and the NACC authority to impose penalties for violations of the Act (Section 6).
The NACC is composed of a Council and a Secretariat (Section 7).
The Council includes the Secretary of the DSWD as ex officio chairperson and six (6) other members appointed by the President for a nonrenewable term of six (6) years, with composition requiring:
- one (1) psychiatrist or psychologist,
- two (2) lawyers with qualifications of an RTC judge,
- one (1) registered social worker, and
- two (2) representatives from NGOs engaged in child-caring and child-placing activities (Section 7).
The Council acts as policy-making body and, en banc, serves as Appeals Committee for contested denials of petitions issued by the Executive Director or the Deputy Director for Services (Section 7).
The Secretariat implements and executes alternative child care policies and is headed by an Executive Director (rank of Undersecretary), assisted by two (2) deputy directors:
- one (1) for services (Assistant Secretary rank), and
- one (1) for administration and finance (Assistant Secretary rank) (Section 7).
The NACC must hire professionals and experts to form part of the CPC to assist in reviewing petitions for adoption (Section 7).

Functions, regional offices, and staffing

The NACC must ensure alternative child care and adoption processes are simple, expeditious, and inexpensive and redound to the best interest of the child (Section 8).
The NACC Secretariat must, among others:
- act and resolve petitions for issuance of CDCLAA;
- facilitate and resolve domestic administrative adoption;
- facilitate and resolve inter-country adoption pursuant to Republic Act No. 8043;
- facilitate, act, and resolve foster care pursuant to Republic Act No. 10165;
- facilitate, act, and resolve rectification of simulated birth pursuant to Republic Act No. 11222;
- supervise and control acts performed by the RACCO;
- set standards and guidelines on adoption including pre- and post-legal adoption services;
- convene an Independent Appeals Committee using CPC professionals to resolve appeals from denials at RACCO level;
- act as Central Authority in inter-country adoption matters and coordinate with DSWD-OSWA, DFA, agencies, and NGOs consistent with the functions under Section 4 of Republic Act No. 8043;
- determine procedures for suitable alternative care of Filipino children stranded abroad, including countries not party to the Hague Convention or without diplomatic relations;
- ensure inter-country adoption is not pursued until all possible domestic placement is exhausted;
- conduct national dissemination and advocacy campaigns;
- establish programs to keep children with biological families wherever possible;
- assess implementation progress and identify gaps;
- keep records and provide periodic information/reports;
- conduct research;
- provide technical assistance and capability-building;
- determine and impose administrative fees;
- partner with DILG to support LGUs and LCPCs in pre-adoption processes;
- build linkages with independent/private entities to ease government monitoring burdens;
- impose fines or penalties for noncompliance or breach of the Act, its IRR, and rules it promulgates or administers; and
- enforce the Act and related laws to achieve simple, expeditious, and inexpensive processes for domestic adoption, inter-country adoption, foster care, and issuance of CDCLAA (Section 8).
A Regional Alternative Child Care Office (RACCO) must be created for each region and is headed by a Regional Alternative Child Care (RACC) officer (Section 9).
Each RACCO must ensure receipt of local petitions for CDCLAA and adoption and other requests on alternative placement and children’s well-being (Section 9).
Each RACCO must dedicate personnel exclusively for specified functions, including issuance of CDCLAA, domestic administrative adoption, inter-country adoption, foster care, other alternative care, and rectification of simulated birth under Republic Act No. 11222 (Section 9).
Each RACCO must have an RCPC supervised by the RACC officer and composed of:
- a child psychiatrist or psychologist,
- a medical doctor,
- a member of the Philippine Bar,
- an adoption social worker,
- a representative of an NGO involved in child welfare,
  with the rule that no member may have relations with the child or PAP being matched (Section 9).
The DBM, in coordination with the ICAB and DSWD, must create NACC organizational structure and staffing patterns, giving preference to officers/employees holding permanent appointments for comparable positions (Section 10).
Existing plantilla items in ICAB and DSWD dedicated to alternative child care/adoption must be transferred to the NACC (Section 10).
No new employees may be hired until permanent officers and employees have been appointed, including qualified temporary and casual employees, except for positions that are policy-determining, primarily confidential, or highly technical (Section 10).
The existing Adoption Resource and Referral Unit (ARRU) of DSWD functions as the RACCOs for each region under the NACC (Section 10).

Declaring children legally available for adoption

The CDCLAA for an involuntarily committed child under Article 141, paragraph 4(a) and Article 142 of Presidential Decree No. 603 must be issued by the NACC within three (3) months following involuntary commitment (Section 11).
For voluntary commitment under Article 154 of Presidential Decree No. 603, the CDCLAA must be issued by the Executive Director within three (3) months following filing of the DVC signed by the parents with the NACC (Section 11).
Parents or legal guardian who voluntarily committed a child may recover legal custody and parental authority upon petition when NACC is satisfied the parent/legal guardian can adequately provide for the child’s needs (Section 11).
The petition for restoration must be filed within three (3) months after signing of the DVC (Section 11).
For foundlings, the CDCLAA must be issued by the Executive Director within three (3) months after issuance of the child’s foundling certificate or birth certificate (Section 11).
A petition for CDCLAA may be filed by the head or executive director of a licensed/accredited child-caring or child-placing agency/institution, or by an SWDO who has actual custody of the minor, through the RACCO; if custody is held by another individual, filing requires the custodian’s consent (Section 12).
A CDCLAA petition is filed as an affidavit subscribed and sworn to and must state facts on abandonment, neglect, voluntary commitment, or discovery of a foundling (Section 13).
The petition must be supported by:
- a social case study report (Section 13(a));
- proof efforts were made to locate parents/relatives, with sufficient proofs including:
  - written certification the case aired on three (3) different occasions on a local or national radio/TV station;
  - publication in one (1) newspaper of general circulation (dispensable for step-parent and relative adoption);
  - police report or barangay certification where found, or a certified copy of tracing report by Philippine Red Cross NHQ or social service division stating parents could not be found despite due diligence;
  - returned registered mail to last known address of parents/relatives (if any), or the DVC signed by biological parent for voluntarily committed child;
  - birth certificate if available; and
  - recent photograph of the child and photograph during abandonment/admission to the agency/institution (Section 13(b)).
The petition must be filed in the RACCO where the child was found, abandoned, voluntarily committed, or discovered (Section 14).
The RACCO must immediately examine the petition and supporting documents for sufficiency in form and substance, then authorize posting of notice in a conspicuous place for five (5) consecutive days in the locality and in social media/online platforms of NACC and the concerned LGU (Section 14).
If insufficient, the case is put on hold and returned to the petitioner for additional requested information/documents (Section 14).
After completion of posting, within fifteen (15) working days, the RACCO must render a recommendation and transmit a copy with records to the Executive Director (Section 14).
If the petition has merit, the Executive Director must issue the CDCLAA within seven (7) working days from receipt of the recommendation unless further investigation/additional information/documents are needed; copies must be transmitted to petitioner and interested parties known to the Executive Director (Section 15).
Opposition to CDCLAA:
- if biological parents/relatives/legal guardian appear and oppose prior to issuance in abandoned/neglected/foundling cases, the case is put on hold and the handling adoption social worker must immediately investigate and request a Parenting Capability Assessment Report (PCAR) from the LGU where the opposing persons reside (Section 16).
- within fifteen (15) working days after issuance of the PCAR, the handling adoption social worker must recommend whether to grant or deny the opposition.
- within fifteen (15) working days after receipt of the recommendation, the RACCO/Deputy Director for Services/Executive Director decides the petition’s merits depending on where it is pending (Section 16).
A NACC decision on CDCLAA is appealable to the Court of Appeals within ten (10) days from receipt by the interested party, otherwise it becomes final and executory (Section 17).
The CDCLAA issued by the NACC Executive Director is the best evidence of legal availability in a domestic adoption proceeding and functions in inter-country adoption as provided in Republic Act No. 8043 (Section 18).
Counseling services:
- The NACC, through the RACCO, agencies, and city/municipal/barangay social workers when appropriate, must provide counseling by adoption social workers to biological parents and prospective adoptive parents (Section 19).
- No binding adoption commitment is permitted before birth; NACC must require proof biological parents were counseled and that family-strengthening measures were exhausted and prolonged stay in the original home would be inimical to child welfare/interest (Section 19(a)).
- Biological parents have three (3) months to reconsider relinquishment before the decision becomes irrevocable; counseling and social service interventions must be offered after relinquishment (Section 19(a)).
- Steps must be taken to ensure no hurried decisions and that alternatives and implications are provided (Section 19(a)).
- For PAPs, NACC must provide counseling sessions, forums, and seminars on adoption; “adoption telling” is a central theme; adoption must be disclosed as early as possible, and disclosure is mandatory before the adoptee reaches thirteen (13) years old, with adoption-themed activities conducted by an adoption social worker (Section 19(b)).
Biological parent search:
- NACC, LGU, or the child-placing/caring agency with custody must exert efforts using tri-media and other means to locate biological parents and seek consent; if efforts fail, the child must be registered as a foundling and then subject to administrative proceedings declaring abandonment (Section 20).
- If the adoptee is an adult, biological parent search is at the discretion of the adoptee (Section 20).

Who may adopt and who may be adopted

Who may adopt includes:
- any Filipino citizen at least twenty-five (25) years of age, with full civil capacity and legal rights, good moral character, not convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude, able to emotionally and psychologically care for children, at least sixteen (16) years older than the adoptee, and able to support and care for adopted children consistent with family means (Section 21(a));
- exceptions to the sixteen (16)-year age difference include when the adopter is the biological parent or the spouse of the adoptee’s parent (Section 21(a));
- the legal guardian after termination of guardianship and clearance of financial accountabilities (Section 21(b));
- the legal guardians with respect to the foster child (Section 21(c));
- Philippine government officials/employees deployed/stationed abroad able to bring the child with them (Section 21(d));
- foreign nationals who are permanent or habitual residents of the Philippines for at least five (5) years, possessing the same qualifications as Filipino nationals prior to filing, and coming from a country with diplomatic relations with the Philippines where the adopter’s laws acknowledge the Certificate of Adoption as valid, recognize the child as legal child of the adopter, and allow entry of the child as an adoptee (Section 21(e)).
Residency waivers for foreign nationals apply when:
- adopting a relative within the fourth (4th) civil degree of consanguinity or affinity by a former Filipino citizen habitually residing in the Philippines;
- adopting the legitimate child of the Filipino spouse; or
- adopting jointly with a spouse a relative within the fourth degree of consanguinity/affinity of the Filipino spouse (Section 21(e)).
Spouses must jointly adopt except where:
- one spouse seeks to adopt the legitimate child of the other;
- one spouse seeks to adopt own illegitimate child with the other spouse’s consent; or
- the spouses are legally separated (Section 21).
Who may be adopted includes:
- a child issued a CDCLAA (Section 22(a));
- the legitimate child of one spouse by the other spouse (Section 22(b));
- an illegitimate child by a qualified adopter to improve status of legitimacy (Section 22(c));
- a Filipino of legal age if consistently treated by the adopters as their own child for at least three (3) years prior to adoption (Section 22(d));
- a foster child (Section 22(e));
- a child whose adoption has been previously rescinded (Section 22(f));
- a child whose biological or adoptive parents have died, but no proceedings may be initiated within six (6) months from the time of death (Section 22(g)); and
- a relative of the adopter (Section 22(h)).

Consent and documentary requirements

Written consent required after proper counseling and informed of the right to give or withhold approval includes (Section 23):
- the adoptee if ten (10) years of age or over;
- the biological parents (if known) or the legal guardian or proper government instrumentality with legal custody, except for a Filipino of legal age consistently treated by adopters as their own child for at least three (3) years;
- the legitimate and adopted children of the adopters who are ten (10) years of age or over, if any;
- illegitimate children of the adopter who are ten (10) years of age or over and living with the adopter or over whom the adopter exercises parental authority, and the adopter’s spouse if any;
- the spouse, if any, of the person adopting or to be adopted.
Children under ten (10) years of age must be counseled and consulted but are not required to execute consent (Section 23).
Documentary requirements for PAPs to attach to the petition and submit to the RACCO include (Section 24):
- home study report and child case study report in a uniform standardized format;
- authenticated or security paper copies of birth records of PAPs and the child;
- authenticated or security paper copies of marriage certificate if married, or court decision/certificate of finality for annulled/divorced/legally separated;
- NBI or Police Clearance, and for foreign nationals, clearance from police authorities where lived more than twelve (12) months in any time in the past fifteen (15) years;
- written consent to adoption by biological parent(s) or substitute parental authority over the child and written consent of the child if at least ten (10) years old, signed in the presence of an adoption social worker of NACC/child-caring agency or child-placing agency for foster home cases after proper counseling;
- authenticated or security paper copies of death certificates of biological parents, as applicable;
- original copy of CDCLAA, as applicable;
- result of recent medical evaluation of child and PAPs;
- mandatory result of psychological evaluation of PAPs;
- mandatory psychological evaluation of the child for children five (5) years old and above;
- child care plan listing at least three (3) temporary custod