Couples or individuals who wish to adopt a child from Malta will be eligible for a maximum grant of €1,000, Family Minister Michael Falzon said on Monday. 

Addressing a press conference, Falzon said that the grant is lower than that given to parents who adopt children from abroad because there are fewer expenses linked to local adoption.

Parents who adopt a child from a foreign country can be reimbursed for expenses not exceeding €10,000. 

Falzon said that with the help of the new grant, around 90 local children could be potentially adopted in the coming months. 

“Fostering families can now adopt the child that they are looking after, after five years (three in extraordinary cases), down from the previous minimum of 10 years,” said Falzon.

Falzon said that the launch of the new measure will see the Family Ministry fulfill 90 per cent of the measures announced in the last budget. 

Foundation for Social Welfare Services CEO Alfred Grixti said that over the past four years, 84 couples and seven single parents adopted 115 children from abroad. He added that they were collectively given just under €1 million in grants. 

“Our main aim is to see that these children are given stability, a family and a safe home,” Grixti said. 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.