CRC/C/15/Add.259 page 11 49. The Committee recommends that the State party make every effort to ensure that all adoptions fully comply with the principles and provisions of the Convention as well as with other relevant international standards and are conducted in the best interests of the child and that intercountry adoption is used as a last resort. The Committee encourages the State party to adopt and implement as a matter of priority the Foster Care Act. The Committee recommends to the State party that it identify the factors in the adoption process which result in children’s prolonged stay in institutions. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party provide foster parents and foster children with adequate psychosocial services. Abuse and neglect, mistreatment, violence 50. The Committee is deeply concerned about the increasing reports of cases of child abuse and neglect in the State party and the notable deficiencies in the domestic legislation as regards penalizing all forms of abuse, neglect and mistreatment, including sexual abuse. In addition, the Committee deeply regrets the alleged cases of sexual abuse of children in the framework of religious institutions. 51. The Committee urges the State party to review its domestic legislation in order to penalize all forms of abuse, including sexual abuse, neglect, mistreatment and violence against children and to clearly define these crimes against children, including incest. The Committee recommends to the State party that it take effective measures to prevent and protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation in the framework of religious institutions, including by investigating the magnitude of such cases and by ensuring that the perpetrators of such abuse are brought to justice and that officials of religious institutions are held accountable in these cases of sexual abuse and the exploitation of minors. 52. The Committee urges the State party to conduct timely and adequate investigations of all cases of child abuse and violence with full practice of the rights of the child victim in legal proceedings, for example by allowing videotaped evidence, in order to bring perpetrators to justice and to ensure that child victims of violence and abuse have access to adequate counselling and multidisciplinary assistance with recovery and reintegration. Children in prison with their mothers 53. As regards children living in prison with their mothers, the Committee is concerned about access to adequate social and health services for these children and particularly, about their living conditions, which are often poor and fall short of international standards. 54. The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that living conditions and health services in prison are adequate for the child’s early development in accordance with article 27 of the Convention and that the principle of the best interests of the child (article 3 of the Convention) is carefully and independently considered by competent child professionals prior to and during their stays with their detained mothers. The Committee recommends that alternative care for those children who are separated from their mothers in prison be regularly reviewed ensuring that the physical and mental needs of children are appropriately met. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the State party ensure