The working group will also evaluate the legal regimes for adoption, civil sponsorship and family fostering and the functioning of the Child and Adolescent Protection Commissions (CPCJ), and will propose legislative changes to simplify procedures.

According to information from the Government sent to Lusa agency, “the objective is, always in the name of the best interests of the child, to reduce the number of cases of institutionalisation, and prioritising the measure of family care”.

The intention to evaluate adoption and foster care regimes had already been announced by the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, on November 15th in parliament, having, in the meantime, advanced a national campaign by the Government to increase the number of foster families.

Current legislation defines that in order to be able to apply to be responsible for foster care, the person or family cannot be candidates for adoption, but several parties are currently discussing in parliament a series of bills and draft resolutions so that the foster family may be a candidate for adoption of the child they are temporarily receiving.

The bills are from the Liberal Initiative (IL), Bloco de Esquerda (BE), People-Animals-Nature Party (PAN), Chega, and Livre.

The CDS-PP draft resolution recommends that the Government amend the law to allow foster families to be candidates for adoption, while the BE draft resolution recommends that there be specific training for both foster families and adoption candidates for the adoption of older children.

As defined in the decree-law, foster care is a measure to promote the rights and protection of children and young people in danger and consists of assigning a child or young person to a trusted person or family.

The objective is that children or young people, when removed from their biological family, are integrated into a family environment instead of being placed in an institutional regime.

The assumption is that minors are subsequently reintegrated into their families of origin or, if this is not possible, prepared for adoption or to live independently.