A review of assessment protocols used in South African adoption practice

Abstract

Child adoption is a specialisation field that has as its main objective, providing an adoptable child with a permanent form of care. Adoption practitioners are faced with the gruelling task of selecting suitable caregivers for the adoptable child. The South African Children’s Act (38/2005) provides limited guidance to practitioners on how to undertake this task, leaving practitioners to their own devices. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the practice of eight rigorous adoption assessors. Three main themes informed the study: assessment processes followed, assessment instruments used and challenges experienced when applying current assessment protocols. Results revealed that adoption assessment protocols differ among practitioners. The various protocols consist of different methodologies and assessment instruments, used optionally and at the assessor’s discretion with numerous challenges experienced. This leaves the desperate prospective adoptive parent at the mercy of a range of variables, which thus essentially exposes the applicant to various forms of exploitation. This article advocates the use of ecometrics as an approach to assessment as a scientific process that can be accurately controlled by the adoption practitioner and used in a way that promotes accountability and the production of valid, reliable practice and knowledge