CRC/C/HND/CO/3 page 11 48. The Committee recommends that the State party, taking into account the recommendations formulated following its Day of General Discussion on children without parental care in September 2005 (see CRC/C/153), develop and implement a comprehensive policy for children in need of alternative care, which should include measures to: (a) Provide families of children in need of care and protection with the necessary support and counselling in order to prevent child-parent separation, unless this separation is necessary in the best interests of the child; (b) Promote alternative care in foster families, including kinship care and provide these families with adequate financial and other support, including training; (c) Ensure that institutional care is an option of last resort and that the conditions in institutions, including provisions of health care and education, are in full conformity with the Convention; (d) Ensure that children placed in institutions have access to adequate complaint and consultation mechanisms; (e) Ensure the periodic review of the treatment provided to the child and all other circumstances relevant to his or her placement; (f) Review existing guidelines for alternative care (foster and institutional care) and bring them into full conformity with the Convention. Adoption 49. The Committee notes that a draft Special Law on Adoption is under consideration in the Congress since 2000 and that the State party has started the process towards ratification of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption. 50. The Committee, reiterating its previous recommendations, urges the State party to speed up the adoption of the draft Special Law on Adoption and finalize the process of ratification of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption. Violence, abuse, neglect and maltreatment 51. The Committee notes that legislation to prevent violence is abundant, including specific provisions in the Code on Children and Adolescents, the Law against Domestic Violence and in the Penal Code against violence within the family. However, the Committee is concerned that: (a) Domestic violence and abuse of children, including sexual abuse, constitute a serious problem and are on the rise, with more than 4,000 cases of child abuse and maltreatment reported every year;