RA11642: DOMESTIC ADMINISTRATIVE ADOPTION AND ALTERNATIVE CHILD CARE ACT
This Act streamlines and simplifies the domestic adoption process by establishing an administrative procedure for domestic adoption and reorganizing the Inter-Country Adoption Board (ICAB) into the National Authority for Child Care (NACC). The NACC is created as a one-stop quasi-judicial agency with original and exclusive jurisdiction over all alternative child care matters, including declaring children legally available for adoption, domestic and inter-country adoption, foster care, kinship care, family-like care, and residential care. This aims to provide simpler, more expeditious, and less expensive proceedings for placing children in permanent, loving families, prioritizing the child's best interests.
The law also outlines the process for declaring a child legally available for adoption (CDCLAA), including requirements for locating biological parents and the role of social workers in case studies and supervised trial custody. It specifies who may adopt and be adopted, and the necessary consents, while granting adoptive parents all the benefits entitled to biological parents, including maternity and paternity leaves. Furthermore, the Act establishes provisions for confidentiality of adoption records, assistance to indigent prospective adoptive parents, and penalties for violations, all designed to safeguard the welfare of the child and promote a positive environment for adoption.