Adoption Board gets new directors

GINA, GUYANA, Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon today revealed that the Adoption Board has a new slate of directors, chaired by James Bond.

The Minister, speaking at a post-Cabinet briefing at the Ministry of Presidency, explained to media operatives that the new board of directors consists of Bond, Geoffrey Sankies, Kashir Khan, Clonel Samuels-Boston, Punilall Latchman, Patricia Gray and a representative from the parliamentary opposition. The new board of directors is expected to function for a period of one year.

The Board processes monthly reviews of 12 to16 adoption applications. It also has to ensure that a child is not yet, and will not reach his or her eighteenth birthday during the process, which takes about seven months. According to the law, an 18- year- old cannot be adopted.

Persons whose applications to adopt are rejected are usually allowed to appeal. This is because in many cases additional/new information surfaces, which was not available before, or because there might have been a misunderstanding of the process.

By: Ranetta la Fleur