Ukraine has a single state online platform for adoption and family-based care — dity.gov.ua. It is a convenient resource that provides comprehensive and up-to-date information for those who want to give a child without parental care the opportunity to grow up in a family environment.
The platform provides an overview of all possible options for family upbringing: adoption, guardianship, foster family, family-type children’s home, and patronage. For each form, the conditions, legal features, and step-by-step instructions are provided — from the first consultation with the child welfare service to the moment the child is accepted into the family. Lists of required documents are also included.
A separate section is devoted to mentoring. This is not a form of family upbringing, but an important way to help a child without parents prepare for adult life.
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Users of the platform can contact the ‘Care Line’, where specialists answer the most common questions: can an unmarried or single person raise a child, what to do in the case of rented accommodation, how to find a child for placement in a family, or where to undergo mandatory training.
The website offers free online courses, including ‘Born with a Heart’ and ‘A Family for a Child.’ These courses can be taken in a convenient format and supplement the basic training required for prospective adoptive or foster parents.
In addition, dity.gov.ua offers a selection of films, podcasts, and books about the experience of parenthood, as well as links to online communities for support and experience sharing. The platform regularly publishes real stories of Ukrainian families who have already gone through the adoption process.
The portal was created as part of the reform of the child care and support system with financial support from the European Union and UNICEF in Ukraine.
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