Professional Documents
Culture Documents
SCSR Proposed Format
SCSR Proposed Format
Date prepared
A. ON THE CHILD
I. IDENTIFYING INFORMATION
Sex
Age
Category
(Surrendered/Abandoned/Dependent/Neglected
/Without Known Parents, Orphan)
Current Whereabouts
III. BACKGROUND INFORMATION (Except for the Current Functioning, all information on the
Description of the Child upon Admission, Medical History and Developmental History should
be written in the past tense)
This section must include the following information which should be presented in a
brief/concise, accurate/factual manner:
● Age, personality, physical deformities (if any), birthmark/s (if any) and other
significant observations about the child upon admission.
● Data on anthropometric measurements of the child.
● Description of the child’s overall appearance to indicate whether the child was properly
cared for;
● Type of clothing and hygiene (e.g. clean or unkempt). (Graphic details should not be
included).
● For a child without known parent/s, the child’s condition/physical appearance,
(without including graphic details) behavior when found, information on who named
the child and the significance of the child’s name.
● Developmental achievements of the child (e.g. fine/gross motor skills, speech and
language, etc.)
1. The developmental milestones which the child achieved in terms of fine/gross motor
skills, (e.g. age when the child started to hold head up, roll over, crawl, stand, walk,
grip, grasp, scribble, write, etc.) emotional development (e.g. age when child started
recognizing familiar faces, cries when caregiver leaves, shows desire to be held, and
develop emotional attachment to the caregiver/s), social development (e.g. age when
the child started to smile, play alongside other children), and cognitive development
(e.g. age when child was able to follow instructions, respond appropriately to
stimulation/s) prior to and after admission. For speech and language development,
indicate age when the child started babbling, talk in single words, phrases, and
sentences. Information on the child’s developmental achievement is important as this
will help determine if the child’s development is within normal limits. There should be
a baseline assessment of what the child can do at the time of admission so that the
prospective adoptive parents would see the child’s progress.
2. If the child lived with the birth mother, stayed with relatives, guardians, or child
caring agency, indicate length of stay and developmental achievements prior to
admission.
3. Information whether the child is toilet trained or undergoing toilet training must be
included. If the child is on toilet training, information about the progress must be
specified (e.g. child can tell if he/she is wet; can sit on the potty; can indicate if
he/she needs to go to the comfort room).
4. For a child four (4) years old and above, include information on their interests,
preferences, favorites, daily activities, things that are important to them.
5. For a child five (5) years old and above (and if applicable), summary of the result of
psychological evaluation including recommendations, if any, of the psychologist for the
child.
6. For a child with developmental delay, result of developmental/neurodevelopmental
evaluation and actions taken to address the developmental pediatrician’s
recommendation.
Current Functioning of the Child- This should cover how the child is in terms of physical,
mental, emotional, social, psychological, speech and language development at the time the
Child Study Report was prepared.
For clarity, information in this section should be presented based on the following
developmental aspects (e.g. Physical, emotional, social, psychological, cognitive functioning).
For the physical aspect, indicate current height and weight. For the emotional and social
aspect, include how the child relates to other children, caregivers, strangers, or whether the
child developed emotional attachment to a specific person in the child caring agency. What
makes the child happy/sad? What does the child do when frustrated/angry? Is the child able
to regulate his/her emotions on his/her own? Is the child able to express himself/herself
freely or does he/she need coaching/encouragement to open up? Is the child able to talk
about his/her feelings? How is the child pacified? What discipline method works best for
him/her? Does the child have any behavioral concerns that the adoptive parents need to
know? How do the caregivers/significant adult/s handle the child’s behavior?
For the psychological aspect, strengths and weaknesses of the child, level of confidence and
self-esteem, ability to deal with frustrations/challenges, methods/ways of learning of the
child. For educational aspect, include grade level, academic performance, and subjects where
he/she excels at or needs improvement. The teacher’s perspective on the child’s academic
performance should be discussed.
For a child/ren attending play, occupational or speech therapy, information must be included
as to the progress of the child resulting from the intervention/s.
Depending on the age of the child, the social worker may ask the following:
1. What are the child’s interests, strengths, and favorite past time/s?
2. What are the things that are important to the child (e.g. favorite toys, time with the
caregiver, to have parents, etc)?
3. How is the child connected to the community outside of the CCA/foster home?
4. What is the child’s primary language and is he/she can converse and understand other
languages?
5. What is the child’s understanding of his/her origin and present situation? Was he/she
informed about why he/she is in the CCA/foster home? How does he/she feel towards
his/her biological parents? What interventions are provided to address any unresolved
feelings?
6. What are the child's attitudes, feelings, and thoughts about adoption? How does the
child feel about having a family? What is a family for the child? Let the child describe
his/her idea about the members of a family.
7. What does the child look forward to in the future, wishes, aspirations, and dreams for
himself/herself?
8. What makes the child happy/sad? How does the child manifest emotions? Please give
a description of the child’s mode of expressions (e.g. when angry, what does the child
do? How is the child pacified?)
9. What is the child’s attitude towards discipline and correction? What behavioral
modification or method of discipline is currently applied to the child? What works best
for the child in terms of discipline and correction?
10. Is the child able to spontaneously express his/her feelings or does he/she need
coaching or encouragement to open up? How does the child express his/her feelings?
11. How does the child relate with other children in the child caring agency? Who is the
child’s best friend?
12. How does the child perform in school? How does the child relate to his teachers and
classmates?
13. If the child has a sibling, how is his relationship with him/her?
14. If the child is for inter-country adoption, what is the child’s understanding of life
abroad? To minimize frustration or adjustment difficulty, the child should be informed
of the realities of adoption and life abroad. The child must be made aware that the
ultimate purpose of adoption is to have a family to care and love instead of gaining
material things.
15. Who is the child’s primary attachment figure, if any? Please describe the interaction or
relationship between the child and the primary attachment figure.
16. How does the child relate with the children in the center or foster home? Who are the
child’s playmates – younger or older than himself/herself?
17. Do you see the child correcting other children? How does the child correct his/her
peers or younger children? When does the child correct his/her peers or other
children?
18. What is the child’s understanding of respecting adult authority, rights of others,
personal space, rules, right from wrong, cause and effect or consequences of actions?
Please provide examples.
19. What is the child’s persistent behavioral issues/concerns that the prospective adoptive
parents need to know (e.g. bedwetting, telling lies or making up stories, getting things
without permission, talking back when reprimanded or corrected, being aggressive
when he/she does not get what he/she wants, blaming others to avoid correction,
difficulty accepting mistakes and taking responsibilities for her mistakes, etc.)? For
any behavioral issue/concern noted, please indicate how it is handled by the
caregivers.
20. What is the child’s usual emotional state (i.e., frightened, excited, sad, etc.)? What
incidents would trigger these emotions? What does the child do when such emotions
occur? How does the caregiver handle such outburst of emotions?
21. What are the child’s fears? Does he/she express his/her fears? What could be the
basis for his/her fears? How are these addressed?
22. Does the child display aggression towards other children, adults, animals? What
aggressive behaviors are seen and what triggers such? What does the child do when
in an aggressive state (e.g. hits back, throw things…etc.)?
23. Is the child able to concentrate or complete a task? Record how long the child can
sustain attention to a specific task/activity and what the child does when distracted? If
the child has difficulty concentrating on a task, note the time the task/activity is given,
the child’s interest to the activity/task, the companion of the child, understanding of
the task/activity and what is expected of him/her.
Description of the Child's Present Environment - This includes the following information:
Name of barangay, municipality, town, or city. To prevent the child from contacting on
social media, the people who knew of his/her case, please do not indicate the
complete names, and addresses of the people who knew of his case. It is sufficient to
indicate their first names. Complete names and addresses should be retained in the
child’s file at the CCA.
Name of guardians including basic demographic information such as age, occupation,
civil status, relationship to the child, etc.
Description of the home and community.
Date of placement with the current guardian
If child is in foster care, include information on the sleeping arrangement in the foster
home.
A. THE FAMILY- This tackles the composition and pertinent background information on
biological family such as:
● Personality, psychological and emotional make-up of the birth parent such as:
If the birth mother has history of substance abuse while pregnant, indicate the
frequency, duration, and amount of substance consumption.
7. Birth parent’s attitude towards the child during the time that he was still in her
care.
1. What circumstances led to the birth mother’s decision to relinquish the child? Were
the circumstances verified or established?
2. Assistance rendered to the birth parents- Poverty cannot be accepted as a sole reason
for surrendering the child for adoption. Therefore, case management requires that in
response to circumstances influencing the decision of the parents to relinquish their
parental authority, an appropriate service/s should be provided. The reasons for the
failure of these services from assisting the parents to achieve this goal should be
clearly stated in the report.
3. For victims of rape, counseling services must include goals to help the birth mother in
overcoming the trauma brought by sexual abuse and regaining feelings of security
and worth. Please specify the intervention provided to help the birth mother recover
from the sexual abuse. Include information on the current whereabouts and situation
of the birth mother.
4. Efforts exerted by the social worker to place the child with relatives should be
indicated. How does the birth mother and her family members feel about relinquishing
and being separated from the child? Does the birth mother and her family understand
the implications of relinquishing the child?
5. If the birth of the child is unknown or the birth mother refuses to divulge the child’s
birth to her family members, what efforts were taken to convince the birth mother to
inform her family members? The UN guidelines on the care of children needing
alternative parental care states that all hindrances to reunification should be
eliminated.
6. AO 12, series of 2011 requires home visit to the birth mother (or family member’s)
last known address, if possible, aside from sending a registered mail, as part of the
exhaustion of efforts in locating the child’s birth family. Republic Act 11642 stipulates
the use of social media in locating and contacting birth parents.
7. Date when the birth parent/s signed the Deed of Voluntary Commitment and date if
was notarized. (A valid ID of the parent/s should be presented before the notary
public).
8. Counseling conducted by the social worker before, during and after the signing of the
DVC. Include the dates and goals of the counseling. It should not be merely focused
on orientation on the meaning of the DVC. The birth parent should be helped in
processing the loss, grief, and trauma associated with relinquishing the child for
adoption.
9. Social worker’s effort to prevent the child to be given up for adoption. What options
were explored with the birth mother to help her keep her child aside from kinship care
(e.g. temporary placement to a child caring agency, foster care)?
10. The following information must also appear under this section:
(1) That the birth parent is aware that the Deed of Voluntary Commitment shall
become irrevocable three months after he/she signed the same, thus, he/she has
the time to reconsider his/her decision; (2) that the content of the DVC was
explained to the birth parent in the vernacular that he/she understands.
1. Cite the circumstances on how the child was found, such as WHO found the child, WHERE
was the child found, WHEN was the child found, approximate age of the child when found,
WHAT was the condition of the child when found, HOW the finder facilitated placing the
child to a child caring agency or office.
If newborn, describe the physical appearance of the child (umbilical cord still intact,
cleaned-up, bluish, with discoloration, with placental scums, wrapped in baby blanket,
towel etc.)?
B. ON THE PAPS
Dates of contact:
II. FAMILY COMPOSITION & OTHER INDIVIDUALS LIVING WITH THE APPLICANT/S
IV. MOTIVATION TO ADOPT AND CHILD PREFERENCE: This should address reason/s for
wanting to adopt, who, when, how the decision was arrived at; attitude and resolution of
feelings towards infertility, if applicable. Child preference should be in terms of age,
characteristics, and the extent of physical, medical, and mental capacity of the child
acceptable to the applicant/s and the reason/s for such preference.
V. CHILD CARE AND GUARDIANSHIP PLANS: This should include information on the length
of parental leaves, if applicable, day to day care of the child, childcare arrangement after the
parental leaves, education of the child as well as how the applicant/s will manage caring for
the adoptive child and other life commitments such as work.
The attitude of the extended families and friends should be indicated, future plans, if any, for
the child are to be included.
Other individual/s living at the home - Descriptive paragraph of every person living in
the home should also be included, adult family members should be asked the same questions
re: substance abuse, sexual or child abuse and their responses discussed.
The attitude of Immediate Family Members Regarding Adoption: This should include
information on whether the adoption plan was discussed with the extended family members
of the applicant/s, thoughts, and attitude of the extended family members on the adoption
and their involvement with the adoptive child after placement
VII. PARENTING AND CHILD CARING EXPERIENCE: The couple’s experience in taking care of
a child/ren whether on temporary or prolonged basis should be indicated. Their past
experience in parenting and/or knowledge of childcaring as well as their expressed
disposition and attitude towards discipline patterns, ability to provide nurturing care and
supervision in an atmosphere of affection and moral and material security should be
indicated.
IX. DESCRIPTION OF HOME AND COMMUNITY: The home study should describe the family’s
home, child’s accommodation, membership and participation in community organizations,
community projects and activities. Community resources and specialized facilities for children
such as hospitals, clinics, schools, etc. should be included in the report. Indicators should be
given on the degree of racial tolerance and how this may affect the adjustment of the child in
the community.
XI. HEALTH HISTORY (Physical and Psychological): Applicant/s should indicate any serious
illness, physical disabilities, or history of mental illness, if any. A medical report on the
family’s health status and health history should be discussed. To also include the result of the
police/NBI clearances.
Psychological evaluation report (if recommended by the adoption social worker): This
should include information on the psychometric tests done, results of the tests and clinical
interviews, assessment summary and recommendation/s of the psychologist.
XII. CHARACTER REFERENCES: Source of information are from three (3) persons not related to
the applicant/s by consanguinity or affinity but who have known them for at least three (3)
years. Information should include the references’ impressions on the applicant/s’ relationship
and family life, nature of involvement with children, parenting styles (if applicable).
For applicant/s who have undergone pre-adoption trainings, include the title of the trainings,
number of hours, topics discussed and insights/learnings of the applicant/s.
For applicant/s with no formal pre-adoption trainings, include information on their knowledge
and understanding of adoption and its process and requirements, challenges associated with
adoption, costs of adoption, learnings from friends or relatives and/or from reading adoption
books/materials.
XIV. ADOPTION TELLING AND POST ADOPTION ISSUES: This includes the applicant/s plan
on how they intend to tell the child about his/her adoption story, the applicant/s opinion on
the issue of adoption search and reunion with the birth family.
C. ADOPTION PLACEMENT
I. PLACEMENT HISTORY
Date of Matching
Name of RACCO/CPA
Date Accepted by PAPs
Date of Placement
Age of Child upon placement
(Signature) (signature)
(Name of Social Worker) Name of Head of Office
(License Number and Validity Date)