The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) leads the nation in the observance of 2015 Adoption Consciousness Week Celebration from February 17 to 28.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Legal na Ampon Ako: Anak na Totoo” (A Child Finds Worth in Legal Adoption), which emphasizes that adopted children have the same rights as biological ones.

To officially start the celebration, a launching program will be conducted tomorrow, February 17, at Sequioa Hotel, Timog, Quezon City. The member-agencies of the National Organizing Committee (NOC) for Adoption Consciousness Week will be attending.

Members of the NOC include national government agencies and the Association of Child Caring Agencies (ACCAP), which are strong advocates of adoption and foster care. The NOC is chaired by the DSWD, and the members include the Local Government Units (LGUs), the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and child placement agencies like Norfil Foundation, CRIBS Foundation, and the Kaisahang Buhay Foundation.

The NOC is the body which spearheads the observance of the Adoption Consciousness Week Celebration, as well as the overall campaign to strengthen the advocacy on adoption.

As part of the kick-off program, DSWD will sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Education (DepEd), and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) that will stipulate their commitment to be official partners in strengthening the adoption advocacy campaign.

The DSWD will also open a mobile photo exhibit featuring adoptive families and their children.  This will be first displayed in SM Manila then in the offices of the DILG, DOH, and DepEd to further raise awareness of the joys of adopting a child.

After the kick-off, adoption help desks will be put up in 20 selected SM malls nationwide, Glorietta, Festival Mall, and Market Market from February 21-22 to discuss the adoption process with couples and other individuals.

As a yearly tradition, the Adoption Consciousness Week celebration will culminate with the conduct of an adoption forum to be attended by 200 participants from national government agencies, non-government organizations, local government units, and the academe.

“Many abandoned, neglected, and vulnerable children who are legally available for adoption are waiting to have families of their own,” DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said. “We appeal to families who have the heart and the resources, to consider letting one of these children into your homes.”

However, the Secretary emphasized that only legal adoption should be considered by adoptive families to ensure the welfare and protection of the child.

From 2009 to 2014, DSWD issued some 4,108 Certification Declaring a Child Legally Available for Adoption (CDCLAA).  The number represents the children who are waiting to have families of their own.

Meanwhile, a total of 623 children with CDCLAA were placed for local adoption, while 1,959 were cleared for inter-country adoption from 2010 to 2014. ###