Sponsorship
As per Section 2 (58) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, sponsorship is defined as the ‘Provision of supplementary support, financial or otherwise, to the families to meet the medical, educational and developmental needs of the child’. Under Sponsorship programme, the Mission shall supplement the biological families or extended families of children in need of care or protection for adequate care of the child. It shall be a conditional assistance, to ensure that children get the opportunity to stay and grow within their social and cultural milieu in the community, without displacement.
Types of Sponsorship Assistance under sponsorship, criteria for selection and process of providing assistance under sponsorship will be of two types –
A – Government Aided Sponsorship
B – Private Aided Sponsorship
The state government may seek to saturate eligible children in need of care and protection through sponsorship.
A. Government aided sponsorship: This type of sponsorship shall be of two categories, namely preventive and rehabilitative.
i) Preventive: Sponsorship support will be provided to a vulnerable family to enable a child to continue to remain in the biological family (including extended family and blood relatives), continue his/her education. This is an effort towards preventing children from becoming destitute, vulnerable, runaway, forced into child marriage, forced into child work, etc. The DCPU with the help of its social workers, outreach workers, volunteers as well as the Urban Ward Committee/Gram Panchayat shall identify vulnerable families or children for sponsorship support.
ii) Rehabilitative: Children within institutions can also be restored to families with sponsorship assistance. On the basis of the Individual Care Plan, an institution shall approach the CWC/JJB to recommend a suitable case to DCPU for rehabilitation through the sponsorship fund. Such rehabilitation may accord priority to the immediate family, extended family, family known to the child, neighbourhood/community, and then to unrelated and unknown foster families respectively. Cases will be reviewed by CWC/JJB before recommending to the DCPU for sanction of sponsorship fund.
B. Private Aided Sponsorship: Under private aided sponsorship, interested sponsors (individuals/institutions /company/banks/industrial units/trusts etc.) can provide assistance for the following purposes:
i) Individual Sponsorship–Assistance in kind and through financial support to one or two children of an institution or a family.
ii) Group Sponsorship –Assistance in kind and through financial support to the children of more than one family (up to a maximum of eight children) residing in the institution.
iii) Community Sponsorship-Assistance in kind and through financial support to more than eight children of one or more families of the community.
iv) Sponsorship of Child Care Institution- Assistance in kind and through financial support may be provided to CCI itself for the purposes of strengthening of infrastructure facilities, improvement of service quality, to extend skill development and vocational training opportunities, extend sports facilities and training, coaching classes, medical assistance and facilities, support for library and computer lab, etc.
The sponsorship period may be minimum for one year or up to the period of the child attaining the age of 18 years.
Criteria for sponsorship
(1) Where mother is a widow or divorced or abandoned by family;
(2) Where children are orphan and are living with the extended family;
(3) Where parents are victims of life threatening/terminal disease;
(4) Where parents are incapacitated or unable to take care of children both financially and physically.
(5) Children in need of care and protection as per the JJ Act, 2015 namely without home, victim of any natural calamity, child labour, victim of child marriage, trafficked child, HIV/AIDS affected child, child with disabilities, missing or runaway child, child beggars or living on the street, tortured or abused or exploited children who require support and rehabilitation.
(6) Children covered under the PM CARES For Children Scheme.
Foster Care:
According to Section 44 of the JJ Act, CNCP may be placed in foster care, including group foster care, for their care and protection through orders of the CWC. The purpose is that a child be placed for the purpose of alternate care in the domestic environment of a family, either for a short term or an extended period of time, with unrelated family members for purpose of care and protection. While placing a child in Foster Care, preference shall be given to those families that share similar cultural, tribal and /or community connection. Foster Care shall include Group Foster Care whereby a group of unrelated children are placed with a foster family or under the care of Foster Care givers in a family like setting who may/may not be having their own biological children. Group Foster Care is defined as a family like care in a fit facility for children in need of care and protection who are without parental care.
Children in the age group of 0 to 6 years who are being considered by the Committee to be declared as legally free for adoption, and those who have been declared legally free for adoption shall not as far as possible be considered for placement in Foster Care. Such children shall be provided a permanent family through adoption as per Adoption Regulations. The situations under which Foster Care can be given will rest on the CWCs based on their assessment of the individual case presented before them.
Duration of Foster Care
i) Foster care for short term period means for a period of not more than one year.
ii) Foster Care for extended period of time is placement of a child by the Committee for a period exceeding one year. The duration whether short or long term will also be based on the assessment of the compatibility of the child with the Foster Care parents the period of placement can be periodically extended by the Committee till the child attains 18 years of age.
Children Eligible for Foster Care:
i) Children in the age group of 6-18 years who have been staying in Child Care Institutions for over two years, and have not been declared legally free for adoption may be placed in Foster Care based on their Individual Care Plan developed in the institution.
ii) Children whose parents are terminally ill and have submitted a request to the Committee or the District Child Protection Unit for taking care of their child as they are unable to take care of their child; such children may be preferably placed in Foster Care.
iii) Children in need of care and protection as per the JJ Act namely without home,victim of any natural calamity, child labour, victim of child marriage, trafficked child, HIV/AIDS affected child, child with disabilities, missing or runaway child, child beggars or living on the street, tortured or abused or exploited children who require support and rehabilitation.
After Care:
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, provides for After Care of Children living under the Institutional care vide Section 2(5) and section 46 which mandates that “Any child leaving a child care institution on completion of eighteen years of age may be provided with financial support in order to facilitate child’s re-integration into the mainstream of the society in the manner as may be prescribed”.
After Care is meant for all young persons, who during their childhood have grown up in any form of Alternative Care such as children’s Homes, Observation Homes, etc., or fit facilities and had to leave them upon attaining 18 years of age. This transition for a young person leaving the childcare setting and moving to independent living throws up various challenges as well as offers opportunities as they go through these situational and emotional changes. This transition period is a delicate period because if young persons’ remain unsupported during this time, opportunities available to them may be lost.
Criteria for receiving After Care
Each young person who has turned 18 years of age and who has been cared and protected in any formal or informal form of alternative care as a child (i.e., under the age of 18); such care being either child in need of care and protection as well as to children in conflict with law and is in further need of close support shall be provided with close and continued long term After Care services and facilities in the manner laid down in these guidelines.
Duration of After Care: After Care support shall be provided to young person after completion of 18 years onwards for a maximum of three years (till 21 years of age) and may be extended till 23 years of age (in exceptional cases) or till the young person is mainstreamed into the society, whichever is earlier.
Financial Norms: Financial support of Rs. 4,000/- per month per child shall be provided to Child Care Institutions/organizations/individuals interested in providing After Care to fully implement the Individual After Care Plan (IAP) for meeting the basic needs including food, clothing, health care and shelter; age appropriate and need based education and vocational training, stipend, and any other requirements of the young person. The main focus of After Care shall be to help the young persons’ gain skills for increasing their employability and enable them to adapt to life in the society.
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