ABSTRACT
Effective implementation of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption must be tailored to the social, cultural, and economic context while adhering to the expectations set forth in the Convention, specifically the principle of subsidiarity and safeguards. Fundamentally, a ratifying country is expected to have congruent domestic laws, policies, and procedures that integrate a continuum of care supportive of families to parent the child in question. To reach this goal, governments must have at least a basic welfare and child-protection system oriented to supporting family life; as the term welfare means “well-being,” the idea is that supportive family policy, programs, and community life are essential to meeting this end. From a childrights perspective, the Convention on the Rights of the Child states in Article 19 to ensure:
the establishment of social programmes to provide necessary support for the child and for those who have the care of the child, as well as for other forms of prevention and for identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment and follow-up of instances of child maltreatment described heretofore, and, as appropriate, for judicial involvement.
