The Third Report on the status of implementation of law no. 149/2001 was developed jointly by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies and the Ministry of Justice, with the collaboration of representatives of the Regions and experts from the National Center for Documentation and Analysis for Children and Adolescents. It illustrates the results of the periodic survey carried out by the Department for Juvenile Justice - Directorate General for the Implementation of Judicial Measures (DGM - DG-APG) on the functionality of the law in relation to the purposes pursued and, above all, the compliance of the rules with the interest of the children.

The Report also offers a summary of the data currently available on the phenomenon of national and international adoption and of minors outside the family of origin, accepted in foster care or in residential facilities, using both the official data and the results of a recent sample survey carried out by the Istituto degli Innocenti on the initiative of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies. Current trends reveal a progressive decline in international adoption and as regards the reality of "out-of-family" children, the sample survey, which intended to update the data collected with census research carried out in the years 1998-1999, indicates that the phenomenon is increased.