The Department of Social Development has made submissions to parliament to amend the Children's Act of 2010 to allow social workers to conduct adoptions. According to the National Adoption Coalition of South Africa, adoption remains under the radar, with only about 1000 adoptions administered annually.The coalition held its yearly seminar in conjunction with the Department to bring together stakeholders in the field of adoptions to discuss developments and challenges with adoptions.Roselene September, the chief director of adoptions and international social services at the department, said the reason the number of adoptions was low was because of misconceptions."We want more social workers to be qualified and adequately trained to be able to conduct an adoption so that anyone in a community can go to the social worker office and obtain more information," said September.Coalition chairman Katinka Pieterse welcomed the amendments to the Act."I think it's good because we want to make adoptions more accessible," she said.At present adoption can only be conducted by accredited organisations or private practitioners.With the amendment, social workers would be allowed to oversee adoptions once they have received the necessary training."We need social workers who are adequately trained and prepared to conduct adoptions because this mystification of adoptions must be eroded," September said...