Government unveils €1,000 grant for families wanting to adopt locally

A grant of €1,000 has been unveiled for those wishing to adopt from Malta, Family Minister Michael Falzon announced.

Falzon told a press conference on Monday that the ministry had fulfilled 90% of its budget commitments for this year.

Additionally, he said the ministry had implemented 90% of the measures set out in the electoral manifesto.

“This grant goes hand in hand with the other various amendments made to the law to facilitate local adoptions,” Falzon said.

Falson said potentially, in the coming months, it is expected that up to 90 children will be adopted locally.

Family Minister Michael Falzon

Back in 2019, new laws were introduced to reduce the time a child had to be in foster care before they could be adopted. It was reduced from 10 to five years.

In exceptional cases, the adoptions authority could also authorise the adoption of a fostered child before the lapse of the five year period.

FSWS Chief Executive Alfred Grixti spoke of the government’s grant for international adoptions. He said that in the last four years, 84 couples and seven single people have adopted 115 children and that collectively they were given a little less than €1 million in assistance.