Unified state platform
for adoption and family-based care

Every child in Ukraine should grow up in a safe and caring family and have opportunity for full and harmonious development

Those people who open their hearts to care for a child show great courage. Our platform will support them on this journey

Oksana Zholnovych,

Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine

When you’re just considering whether you’re ready to adopt,
remember: no child was ever ready to lose their parents.

Become parents forever

Offer temporary care

I want to offer the child my family.
How to do this?

1 / 5

Patronage

Short-term and emergency foster care or patronage caregivers provide professional, temporary care and rehabilitation for a child in difficult life circumstances. The child is cared for in a family, rather than an institution, until their parents' situation improves, or a new permanent family is found. This service is vital, helping communities to keep children in difficult life circumstances in a family environment.

Adoption

Adoption provides a child with a permanent family. An adopted child becomes a full member of the new family, with the same rights and responsibilities as biological children.

It guarantees stable and long-term family support for a child.

Guardianship/custody

Guardianship is a form of care for children who have been orphaned or deprived of parental care. In Ukraine, guardianship is for children under 14, while custody is for those children aged 14 to 18. Both forms of care help to ensure the safety, care, and education of children within the family of the guardian or custodian.
Guardians and custodians may be blood relatives or those who have completed special training to become guardians and custodians. Guardianship/custody typically ends when the child reaches legal age (18 years).

Foster family

Foster families are a professional complex service that includes temporary care, upbringing and rehabilitation of a child in difficult life circumstances in the family of the child’s foster carer. The principal service recipient is a child who is given an opportunity to be raised in a family instead of the establishment until the life circumstances of biological parents change for the better, and the child is created adequate upbringing conditions, or a new permanent family is found. This social service is of utmost importance and enables the community not to lose the child.

Large foster family (family-type children’s home)

Large foster families are families or individuals who care for five or more children who are orphaned or deprived of parental care in their home. The total number of children in the home, including the caregivers’ own biological children, should not exceed ten.
Large foster families receive benefits, and may may also be eligible for housing assistance.

Parents and other caregivers, as well as officials who make decisions affecting children must always prioritise the children’s best interests.

Every child whose parents cannot care for them is entitled to adequate care from others who can provide a stable family environment.

Every child with a disability is entitled to the same opportunities for self-fulfilment and development as children without disabilities. The state must remove all barriers faced by children with disabilities to ensure their full integration into community life.

These rights are stipulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Care line

You can receive an initial consultation on adoption and family forms of child upbringing from qualified specialists

* Please note that the consultants help find support or answers to additional questions. No financial or humanitarian assistance is offered.

** After the contact form is filled in and sent, the consultants will contact you within three business days.

This platform is created to ensure the right of every child in Ukraine to be raised in a family environment

01

Reformation of the child care and support system is a priority in Ukraine’s state policy and a critical step towards European integration. The reform is centred on the children’s best interests and the development of family-based care.

02

Everyone can contribute to a child's wellbeing: we can all be role models, offer advice, or alert them to danger. If everyone participates in caring for children, we can transform the system quickly and effectively!

03

This reform is about promoting a family environment and the culture of family-based care. If children are deprived of parental care, the state should first provide them with family warmth, not just shelter and food.

04

This reform focuses on expanding social services in communities. As these services grow, parents will have more support to care for their children and to overcome difficult life situations that might otherwise lead them to place their children in institutional facilities.

05

It is about ensuring equal rights and opportunities for all children, regardless of age, social status, ethnicity, health status, place of residence, or any other attribute. All children, including those with disabilities and special needs, have the right to fully participate in community life on an equal footing with their peers.

If you are a representative of a civil society organisation or business and intend to participate in ensuring the right of every child in Ukraine to grow up in a family environment, contact us at the following email address:

office.childcare@kmu.gov.ua

Unified state platformfor adoption and family-based care