CRC/C/PRY/CO/3 5. Family environment and alternative care (arts. 5; 18 (paras. 1-2); 9-11; 19-21; 25; 27 (para. 4); and 39 of the Convention) Family environment 40. The Committee, while welcoming efforts carried out by the State party directed at strengthening families, is concerned at the increasing number of children abandoned or otherwise deprived of their family environment often due to poverty and that the lack of financial resources may oblige children to work or to live in the streets. The Committee is also concerned at the impact that migration may have on children in the State party. 41. The Committee recommends that the State party introduce preventive measures to support and strengthen the families, including family education and awareness-raising through, for example, assessable training opportunities for parents, to prevent the placement of children in institutions. To this effect, the Committee recommends the prioritization of social services for children belonging to most vulnerable groups and financial and psychological support to assist parents in the exercise of their responsibilities for the upbringing and development of children. It also recommends that the State party carry out an assessment of the impacts of all forms of migrations in the nuclear family breakdown. Alternative care 42. The Committee notes article 8 of the Code on Children and Young Persons, which includes the right of the child or adolescent to live with his or her family and prohibits the separation of the child from his or her family because of the family’s economic situation. However, it is concerned at the lack of statistical information on how many children are at present in institutions such as shelter homes, as well as at the lack of information on the living conditions of these children. It is further concerned at the lack of preventive measures to strengthen the families. 43. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Undertake a study to assess the situation of children placed in institutions, including their living conditions and the services provided; (b) Take all necessary measures to allow children placed in residential cares to return to their families whenever possible and consider the placement of children in institutions as a measure of last resort and for the shortest period possible; and (c) Set clear standards for existing institutions, train them and ensure a comprehensive mechanism of periodic review of children placed therein, in the light of article 25 of the Convention and the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children contained in United Nations General Assembly resolution 64/142 adopted on 20 November 2009. Adoption 44. The Committee welcomes Act No. 1169, adopted by the State party in 1997, and the various initiatives that it has undertaken regarding adoption processes, with the effect of restricting international adoption in response to widespread trafficking and sale of children. However, it is concerned at the shortcomings in the system of birth registration and the health sector which, coupled with the excessive amount of time that it takes to comply with the necessary legal procedures, may lead to the improper understanding of the law with regard to temporary custody. It is also concerned that families who intend to adopt can select a child and take him/her home, even before the child has been declared eligible for adoption and without evaluation of the family. 10