Every Child Deserves a Family- Celebrating National Adoption Month

Buckner Kenya Adoption Services celebrates Kenyans whose lives have been impacted through Adoption. The adoption agency celebrates those that have grown through adoption and recognize many children in the country who are waiting for their placement.

Placing a child under alternative care, does not only provide a permanent home for the child but also helps him/ her gain emotional support, and grow up in a family set-up.

Adoption Process

1.Place your interest in adopting a child at an adoption agency

2. Case committee- A case committee meets once in a month to vet all applications for adoption.

3. Case committee decision- Case committee members study and discuss all applications and related reports and make decisions to either reject, differ or approve an application. The decision, together with reasons for the same are given in writing.

4. Counselling- After approval by the case committee, a mandatory counselling session must be done prior to identification of a child. Prospective parents will be referred to a professional counsellor for this purpose.

5. Identification of a child- Next, prospective parents will be referred to children's homes for identification and subsequent placement of a child. Parents MUST obtain and present a referral letter before identification is done.

 6. Bonding period- After identifying a child, the applicant (S) will be required to make at least 6 visits to the relevant home over a 1–2-week period.

7. Placement period- After the two weeks bonding process, the child is discharged to the prospective parent(s) who then begin the placement process for three months.

8.Follow up Assessments- During the three months placement period, social workers will conduct three follow-ups to assess the progress of the child in the new family.

 9. The legal process- This is the final stage of adoption process. The legal process involves three hearing (but could be more). Both the prospective parents and the child MUST be present for the court sessions.

10. Adoption order- The adoption order is granted by the court to finalize the adoption.

Buckner Kenya Adoption Society believes that every minute matters, every child matter and therefore, every childhood matters.