The recovery function of adoption. A study carried out in the Italy’s Veneto region

The number of adoptions has grown significantly in Italy over the last ten years. The adopted children come from backgrounds that have adversely affected their development, both physically and in terms of their abilities to relate to others. Numerous international studies have shown that when such children are introduced into a positive and protective family environment they are able to recover this lost ground. The regional authority of the Veneto decided to invest much of its resources in following up the families during the three-year period after the adoption placement. An analysis of the case records kept on 424, national and international, adoptees in the Veneto Region from 2005 to 2008, has made it possible to see the recovery of the children in terms of their physical and relational growth in the three years following the adoption, as well as to see in what ways the Adoptions Team of the Local Social Service has been able to assist them by providing support.