Integrated Child Protection Scheme

1. Integrated Child Protection Scheme Mrs. Loveleen Kacker Joint Secretary (CW) Ministry of Women and Child Development Government of India

2. Child Population in India • India has the highest number of children in the world. • More than one third of country’s population is below 18 years • Approximately 40% of the population (around 440 million) is children

3. Status of Children in India India has • highest rate of neo-natal deaths (around 35%) in the world • 40% of child malnutrition in developing world • 50% of the child mortality • Reducing number of girls in 0-6 age group- for every 1000 boys 927 girls • 46% children from ST and 38% SC out of school • High school dropout specially among girls • High rate of child marriage: • 37% of literate & 51% of illiterate girls are married below 18 • 10% of literate & 15% of illiterate boys are married below 18 • Large number of child labourers • Large number of sexually abused children

4. Protection Issues • Protecting children in difficult circumstances including natural disasters: • Children in Need of Care and Protection • Child in Conflict with Law • Elimination of child labour • Protecting children from being trafficked for commercial and sexual exploitation • Protecting children affected by HIV/AIDS

5. Children in Need of Care & Protection… • Orphans, abandoned & destitute children • Missing or run-away children • Street & working children • Children of sex workers • Abused, tortured and exploited children • Children indulging in substance abuse • Children affected by HIV/AIDS • Children affected by natural calamities, emergencies and man made disasters • Children with disabilities • Child beggars • Children suffering from terminal/incurable disease

6. Existing Programmes The existing schemes & programmes of GOI includes: • A Programme for Juvenile Justice • Scheme for Working Children in need of care and protection • Integrated Programme for Street Children • Shishu Greha Scheme • General Grant-in-aid Scheme • CHILDLINE-24 hour help line for children in distress • Rajiv Gandhi national crèche scheme for the children of working mothers • Pilot Project to Combat the Trafficking of Women and Children for Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Destination Areas • Scheme for assistance to institutions/VO’s for care and support to children affected by HIV/AIDS

7. Gaps • Lack of qualitative and quantitative data on: • Children in need of care & protection • Children in conflict with law • Institutional Care system • Standards of care not established and implemented • Inadequate infrastructure under JJ system, like constitution of: • Juvenile Justice Boards • Child Welfare Committees • Special Juvenile Police Units • Lack of non-institutional and family based care system for children

8. Gaps • Skewed utilization of resources in terms of geographical spread; • Lack of coordination and convergence of programmes/services; • Inadequate emphasis for reintegration and restoration to families for rehabilitation; • Inadequate budgetary allocation for child protection. • Inadequate training and capacity building of functionaries under juvenile justice system

9. Current Initiatives • Amendment of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 • Comprehensive Scheme “Integrated Child Protection Programme” • Adoption Scheme

10. Proposed Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) • GOI has proposed to combine its existing different child protection schemes under one integrated scheme • It aims to provide for care and protection of all the children in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection. • It proposes to involve steps to: • Strengthen families and prevent them from breakup and children becoming homeless and without care and protection. • Provide support to children already outside the mainstream, beginning from emergency outreach services to final rehabilitation with their families/ society.

11. Objectives The Integrated Child Protection Scheme aims at: • Creating a safety net for children in need of care and protection and children in conflict with law • Promoting preventive measures to enable families to stay together and prevent avoidable institutionalization of children • Providing services to the more vulnerable categories of children through specialized programmes • Establishing linkages for restoration of children to their biological families/ placement with adoptive families or foster families • Ensuring effective implementation through the creation of State level child protection units • Supplementing and strengthening the infrastructure established under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000

12. Objectives • Creating emergency access through CHILDLINE and followed by counseling, restoration and rehabilitative services along with linkages to other available services under various schemes of the Government of India/State Governments/VO’s • Building capacities of families, community, NGOs, local bodies, police, judiciary and other concerned departments of State Government • Undertaking research, advocacy and spreading awareness about child related issues. • Networking amongst the Allied Systems to ensure proper treatment of children, care and rehabilitation • Initiating any other need based specialized innovative services including child guidance and counselling especially to combat drug abuse, HIV/AIDS and sexual abuse.

14. Components of the Scheme The components of the scheme would be broadly divided in two categories: • Juvenile in conflict with law, and • Children in need of care and protection

15. Components of the ICPS Juvenile in conflict with law: Under this component, the Scheme would support setting up: • State Child Protection Unit • Observation Homes • Special Homes • Aftercare Homes • Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) • Special Juvenile Police Units (SPJU)

16. Components of the ICPS Children in Need of Care & Protection: Under this component, the Scheme would support setting up: • State Child Protection Unit • Children’s Homes • Shelter Homes • After-care Organisations • Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) • 24-hour Drop-in Shelters for Street Children • CHILDLINE Service

17. Funding Pattern • ICPS to be a centrally sponsored scheme and shall be implemented through the State/UT • Bulk funding from the Central Government. • State/UT shall in turn provide grant-in-aid to voluntary organizations under the different components • Eligibility criteria laid down for providing grant-in-aid under the Scheme shall be adhered

18. Information sought from States • What funding and administrative support is provided by the State Governments to CWCs/ JJBs? • What is the expenditure required for the monthly maintenance of a child in an Observation/ Children’s Home i.e. for his food, clothing and other basic amenities? • What are the provisions made by the State Government for restoration of a child to his/her family (a) within the State (b) outside the State? Whether each case of restoration is provided with any funds and how much? • What are the measures taken by the State Govt. to ensure that children in Observation/Children’s Home are being given proper education? Are they being sent to school outside the home or is the education being imparted within the home? • What are the vocational training facilities available to the children lodged in various homes? • What are the counseling and awareness facilities for children in homes especially for drug abuse and HIV/AIDS? • What is the type of training being given to the staff of homes and its frequency? • Whether Special Juvenile Police Units have been set up in the State?

19. Proposed Adoption Scheme • Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) functions as the Central Authority for promoting Adoptions in India • The Ministry recognizes that there are gaps in the existing Adoption system • A draft Scheme has been prepared to streamline the Adoption System in the country

20. Proposed Adoption Scheme • The major components of the draft scheme include: • Redefining the goals for Adoption • Reforming relevant laws • Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act 2000 • Rescheduling the procedure of: • In-country Adoption • Inter-country Adoption • Restructuring the system • Introducing the scheme of assistance for: • Regional Offices of CARA at Kolkata, Guwahati, Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Lucknow and Bhopal • State Adoption Cells in every State

21. State Adoption Cell • The State Adoption Cell at other hand would be setup to: • License and monitor Child Care Institutions involved in adoption; • Maintain a comprehensive List of Child Care Institutions involved in adoption; • Collect and maintain centralised list of children available for adoption; • Register and place adoptable children with prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) and to handle matters incidental thereto; • Act as the clearing house of adoption information at the state level;

22. State Adoption Cell • Furnish the list of adoptable children and prospective adoptive parents to the concerned CARA Regional Office in prescribed format on monthly basis if their needs could not be addressed within the State; • Enhance capacity building of district level functionaries involved in adoption including Child Protection Officers; • Provide all kinds of adoption data to CARA Regional Office in the prescribed format on monthly basis.

23. Information sought from States • Whether State Adoption Cell has been set up in the State and what are the basic activities? • What are the numbers of adoptions that have taken place under (a) HAMA (b) JJ Act, 2000? • What are the problems coming in the way of adoption under the JJ Act, 2000? • What are the numbers of adoptable children in the (a) State run Children/other homes, (b) other homes being run by voluntary agencies? Whether any attempt has been made by the State to bring them into adoption scope/net? • Whether VCA existing in the State and if not whether any efforts being made to set it up?