A.dot reaches 120 adoptions completed in Brazil

A.dot reaches the mark of 120 completed adoptions. The number comes from the Paraná State Court of Justice (TJPR), in the latest edition of the official report. A.dot is the first app for the adoption of children and adolescents in Brazil, launched in May 2018. Because of bureaucratic issues, such as the notification model issued by the judicial districts, the number is estimated to be higher.

Available for iOS and Android, access is restricted to those authorized in the National Adoption and Foster Care System (SNA) of the National Council of Justice (CNJ). In this latest version of the app, verification is automated, which cost practically all of the project’s financial resources. Today, more than 12,000 users are authorized to enter.

In the first years of operation, the TJPR assigned teams so that authorization to access the profiles had manual verification. Sending individual codes was a big headache at the time, because, among other reasons, communication was done by email.

Between 2021 and 2022, the number of approach requests, when a prospective parent wants to meet the child in person, rose 68%, from 138 to 232. So far in 2023, 46 bonding stages (supervised cohabitation periods) have been carried out.

A.dot became nationally known in an edition of Globo Repórter (in Portuguese).

Responsible experimentation

Created as “the last chance” for profiles that depart from the usual in adoption requests (people with disabilities and sibling groups, in particular), the project faced setbacks. Even internally, there was concern that the app might expose children unnecessarily. That issue was entirely overcome, and A.dot won the attention of the Paraná State Council on the Rights of Children and Adolescents.

Two main challenges were in mind, namely loyalty to the Statute of Children and Adolescents (ECA) and to the General Data Protection Law (LGPD). In these and other cases, A.dot proved adequate not only to the requirements but also responded successfully in terms of completing adoptions.

Conscious Adoption Support Group

The app was created in a partnership between the Conscious Adoption Support Group (Grupo de Apoio Adoção Consciente) and the TJPR. The Group also promotes training for prospective adoptive parents, which is mandatory for adopters. Currently, that training is also going through digitization, using the Microsoft 365 platform.