Thirty four girls between the age of seven and 23 who were moved to Jagshanti Udayan Care Home (JUCH), Greater Noida, are leading a life integrated with the society. Moved to JUCH under the orders of the Child Welfare Committee under Section 27 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015, their process of inclusion is claimed to have been due to the concept of living in family environment (Life) adopted by the centre.
The institutional set up, closed-door policy and overcrowding at other homes gives fewer opportunities for community integration. At JUCH the children are loved and cared for by a group of mentor parents, volunteers, who groom them with a team of social workers and resident care givers.
Explaining Life’s attributes, Deepak Sharma, who along with Sunita Sharma, plays the role of mentor parents, explains, “Children are given individual attention for all their needs and requirements. Each child’s care plan is made by the team, along with child's participation.” Citing a few examples he shares that children go to regular public schools and colleges like those from a normal family, celebrate birthdays, festivals, go for outings and get married.
JUCH is the fourth centre of Udayan Care which through its different centres provides a nurturing environment, higher education and avenues to women to become self-reliant. At the winter carnival held recently at JUCH, their success was evident from their enthusiastic participation.
At JUCH one sees girls in groups busy with studies, extra-curricular activities, games, vocational courses, chit-chatting or indulging in harmless pranks –– portraying a large and happy family. Bringing them to this stage took considerable time and effort as all of them have a traumatised background. To address this JUCH has a mental health programme which includes a child and adolescent psychiatrist, social workers and psychologists. “They along with mentors and care staff support the children, once the areas of intervention are assessed and decided,” points out Sharma.
Dealing with the complexities of trauma on a long term basis, weekly case discussions are held with periodic visits by psychologists, capacity building workshops for children and care providers and presentations by the team to merge academics and research with the mental health programme.
With the aim to make the girls independent, JUCH provides vocational training in computers, enamel painting, paper craft, beautician techniques, stitching and tailoring, hospitality and hospital management. On completion of education and training, girls are helped to get jobs following which they are supported to live independently. “The organisation supports them initially so that the individual is comfortably integrated with society without any immediate financial burden,” says Sharma.
The courses at the computer, stitching and beautician centres are offered outside the community for nominal charges and in many cases free, offering another window for the girls to integrate with others.
S.R.
