Act and Laws in Kenya

(1) A child who escapes from a fit person, charitable children’s institution to whose care the child has been entrusted under this Act, or from any person or institution with whom the child has been placed by a charitable children’s institution, or under any regulations made under this Act, may be...

(1) Where a child escapes from any person or institution with whom or withwhich the child has been placed by a charitable children’s institution or county public entity, the manager, person in charge of the institution or other authorised officer of such institution or authority...

(1) Any child who escapes from a children’s remand home or while being escorted thereto or therefrom, may be apprehended without warrant and dealt with in accordance with section 157. (2) Any child who has been committed to a rehabilitation school and who— (a) escapes from such school or from any...

Any person who willfully and knowingly— (a) aids or induces a child— (i) to run away from a fit person, a charitable children’s institution, children remand home or a rehabilitation institution or authorised person to whose care the child has been committed, or from any person or institution with...

(1) If a Children’s Court is satisfied by information on oath that there arereasonable grounds for believing that a child has escaped or done any of the things specified in section 163, and that some other person named in the information is in a position to produce the child, the Court may issue...

(1) Where a person appears before any Court for the purpose of givingevidence, and it appears to the Court that the accused, the victim or complainant to whom the proceeding relates is under eighteen years of age, the Court shall inquire as to the age of the accused, victim or complainant, and shall...

Where a Court makes an order placing a child under the care of a rehabilitation school, the court shall not make a contribution order requiring a parent or guardian of the child to contribute any sums of money towards the maintenance of the child.

(1) The Cabinet Secretary may enter into an agreement with the government of any other country or territory on such terms and conditions as the Cabinet Secretary may think fit, under which a child who has been ordered by a Court under the provisions of this Act to be sent to a rehabilitation school...

The provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code with respect to bonds for good behaviour, including the provisions as to their enforcement, shall apply to bonds entered into under this Part.

(1) The overriding objectives of foster care placement are— (a) to protect and nurture children in need of care and protection by providing a safe, healthy environment with wholesome support; (b) to promote long term parental care, with the goal of family reunification in the first...

(1) In this Part, "foster care" includes— (a) placement of a child in foster care on short term basis for a period not exceeding three years— (i) in situations of emergency; (ii) where the child is found abandoned; or (iii) where the child is in need of care and protection; or (b) placement of a...

(1) For the purposes of this Part, a child may be placed under foster care either on the direct intervention of the Secretary or pursuant to an order of the Court, and such placement shall, in the first instance, be home based. (2) Where a child has, by virtue of a care order, been committed to a...

(1) Any person wishing to foster a child shall make an application to the Secretary in the prescribed form. (2) On receipt of the application referred to in subsection (1), the Secretary shall conduct due diligence, including ascertaining the criminal liability of the prospective foster parent, and...

(1) Any of the following persons may apply to be appointed a foster parent or foster parents— (a) spouses of a marriage where one or both the spouses are between twenty-five and sixty-five years of age; (b) a single woman of between twenty-five and sixty-five years of age; or (c) a single man of...

The Secretary shall not authorize foster care placement of a child if it is shown to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the application has not been done following the procedure set out in rules made under this Act.

Not more than four children may be placed in foster care with a single person or two persons in the same household, except where— (a) the children are siblings or blood relatives; or (b) the Secretary is of the view that, in the circumstances of any particular case, such placement is in the best...

(1) A person shall not, for the purposes of fostering a child, retain in his care andcustody a child whose parent, custodian or guardian cannot be readily identified, without first notifying the Secretary. (2) Every registered Charitable Children Institution undertaking foster careplacement in...

(1) The Secretary may, on the application of a foster parent or the parentor guardian of a child, direct that an agreement be made between the foster parent and the parent or guardian of a child placed in foster care stipulating the maintenance payable by such parent or guardian for the child’s...

(1) Any foster care placement made under this Part may be terminated on the written direction of the Secretary if the termination is, in the Secretary’s opinion, in the best interest of the child. (2) Before directing the termination of any foster care placement of a child, the Secretary shall take...

A person who, without reasonable cause, contravenes any of the provisions of this Part commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.

The Cabinet Secretary shall make regulations for the better carrying out of the provisions of this Part.

The Chief Justice may make court rules of procedure and practice in matters relating to foster care placement.

(1) Subject to this Act, the High Court may, on an application made in the prescribed form, make an order, in this Act referred to as "adoption order", authorising an applicant to adopt a child. (2) All proceedings under this Part shall be heard and determined in chambers, and the identity of the...

(1) A person shall not commence any arrangements for the adoption of a child unless— (a) the Council, in accordance with the rules, has declared the child free for adoption; and (b) the child has attained the age of six weeks. (2) A person, including a parent, guardian or adoption society, shall...

(1) Any child who is resident within Kenya may be adopted whether or not the child is a Kenyan citizen, or was born in Kenya. (2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), no Court may entertain an application for an adoption order in respect of a child unless— (a) the child concerned...

(1) The Court may make an adoption order on application by— (a) a sole applicant; or (b) two spouses jointly. (2) The Court shall not make an adoption order in any case unless— (a) the applicant has attained the age of twenty-five years, but is not above the age of sixty-five years; and (b) the...

(1) The Court may dispense with any consent required under section 186(8) paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) if the Court is satisfied that—(a) in the case of the parent or guardian of the child, the parent or guardian has abandoned, neglected, persistently failed to maintain or persistently ill-treated...

(1) Where an application is made for an adoption order, the Court shall, eitherof its own motion or on application by any party to the proceedings, make an order appointing a fit person to be guardian ad litem of the child to whom the application relates. (2) The guardian ad litem shall be under...

(1) Where an application for an adoption order is pending in Court— (a) any person who has consented to the adoption shall not be entitled, except with leave of the Court, to remove the child from the care and control of the applicant; (b) the applicant who has received a child into his or her...

(1) A person who is a biological parent of a child in respect of whom an adoption order has been granted by a Court may apply to the Court for review of the order for adoption on grounds that— (a) the child in respect of whom an adoption order has been granted by a Court was lost or...