DPA has made a submission on the Adoption in Aotearoa Discussion Paper welcoming the wide-ranging scope of the paper.
DPA strongly believes that our adoption laws need to be changed to align with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and other international treaties / declarations, and to end the decades of discrimination and marginalisation in the adoption process for both disabled children and parents.
Some of the changes DPA suggests / supports are:
- changes to the current consent process including a longer period of time being given before birth parents can consent to an adoption, and greater support for birth parents including access to supported decision making and counselling
- when assessing suitability for adoption, suitability should not be based on disability or perceived disability status.
- changes to better include children’s cultural and language needs in the adoption process
Read DPA's full Submission on the Adoption in Aotearoa Discussion Paper