As many as 100 children living in 36 child care institutions in the district will be able to live and blossom in a loving and safe family environment under a foster care scheme drawn up by the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU).
Over the past five years, 48 children have been placed in foster care in the district. Some of the children have been in foster care for extended periods of time, and have even been adopted by families they have lived with.
In a step forward, the DCPU has drawn up a project Sanatha Balyam under which children who cannot be taken care of by their parents for various reasons will be provided love and care by families known or unknown to them. As many as 22 children have already been identified.
Under Sanatha Balyam, focus will primarily be on individual foster care under which a child will be placed with another family for short or long durations. Kinship foster care wherein children can stay with a relative and vacation foster care where children in care institutions who are unable to go home to their families during vacations are placed with other families will be the other options, said Subair K.K., District Child Protection Officer.
Only couples who have had a satisfactory married life of five years, single parents, relatives, will be eligible for fostering children.
The DCPU has prepared elaborate guidelines for implementing the project. Responses to advertisements inviting applications will be scrutinised, home visits made and reports submitted to the DCPU. By February, potential guardian will be counselled on how to foster the children.
The children to be placed in foster care will be identified next month itself and provided with necessary counselling so as to prepare them to live in a different family environment. The consent of birth parents for placing the children in foster care will be sought.
Lists in March
In March, lists submitted by the institutions will be matched with those of the potential guardians, and the District Child Protection Officer will submit recommendations to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). After interactions between the families and the children, on the CWC’s directions, the children will be released into their care.
Things do not end there though. A follow-up will be held within a week. The guardians will have to produce the children whenever required by the CWC in the first six months. Follow-up investigation reports will be submitted and individual cases reviewed after six months. After one year, the CWC will look into whether the foster care should be extended.
District Collector S. Venkatesapathy said the attempt was to increase the number of children in foster care by placing another 100 in safe and loving environments. It would also help improve their interpersonal skills and build up their confidence. Depending on the response, the foster care would be extended.
“It is a small start, but we will extend it after review,” he said.
Children who cannot get care from their birth parents can also be put in foster care
48 children have been placed in foster care in the district over the past five years
