Manitha C. Nair, an assistant professor at Amrita Centre for Nano Sciences, is in a dilemma.
Having brought in 12-year-old Rema (name changed) to her family for two successive years under the Vacation Foster Care programme, she simply could not decide whether to bring her back again this year, thus further fostering the already strong bond with her foster daughter or give that chance to another equally unfortunate girl who has no memories of being part of a loving family.
“We were discussing the pros and cons of bringing her back till the previous evening. Our family, including my two young children, are very attached to her. Yet, we were discussing whether to bring another girl this time.
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“Besides, we are not sure whether we will get her again since there seems to be a move to send back inmates of child care institutes from other States to their parent States,” said Ms. Manitha.
She bared the pangs of separation on both occasions when her foster daughter, originally from north India and who got separated from her mentally disturbed mother at the age of around five, was sent back to the institute after the vacation.
Incidentally, Ms. Nair’s family is the only one to apply for the third successive year under the vacation foster care programme since the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) rolled it out in 2018.
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Since then, as many as 39 children, lodged at various child care institutes across the district, got to spend their vacations with 30 foster families.
Significantly, girls outnumbered boys by 28 to 11, indicating the strong preference of families for girls. There were also instances of families taking in siblings from child care institutes.
“Inquiries are pouring in, and on a single day we received around 160 calls. Unlike in the previous two years when we called for a list of children available for the vacation foster care programme from the 95 child care institutes registered in the district, this time the DCPU is directly identifying potential beneficiaries,” said M.K.P. Hafzeena, protection officer, non-institutional care, DCPU.
Home study
The last date for submission of applications under the programme is March 10 after which social workers assigned by the DCPU will undertake a home study, followed by counselling to ascertain whether the families are capable of taking care of children in a safe, secure and peaceful atmosphere.
Children who are not able to return to their families even during vacations are mainly considered for the programme.