Picture used for representational purpose

NEW DELHI: At a time when cases of abuse in children's homes have shaken the nation, Gujarat is showing the way on how foster care can be a sound alternative with the right mix of financial incentives and vetting of foster families with the state seeing a significant jump in children under care from 1,784 in 2015-16 to 9,588 in 2017-18.

The state's success in revamping its four-decade-old foster care system ties in with the Centre's recent effort to encourage foster care to reduce dependence on child protection homes that are difficult to monitor and have been vulnerable to misuse and the 'Gujarat model' is being seen as an experiment that could be emulated.

The Gujarat results were shared at a consultation in the capital with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) where the state attributed the turnaround of its 'Palak Mata Pita Yojana' to reworking of rules that didn't work well.

The changes involved enhancement of monthly care support for a child from 1,000 to 3,000 up to 18 years and inclusion of children in cases where the mother had remarried after the father's death and was unable to take care of the child.

"Gujarat's department of social justice and empowerment is focusing on foster care over putting more children in child care institutions (CCI). The number of children in CCIs over the last five years has been in the range of 3,800 to 4,200 at any given time. There are around 125 CCIs across 33 districts of the state," said Inderjeet Chauhan, programme manager of child protection in Gujarat.

NCPCR chairperson Stuti Kacker said "The foster guide put out by NCPCR is an attempt to facilitate implementation of the Model Guidelines for Foster Care 2016 notified by the ministry of women and child development in keeping with the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015."

"In Gujarat, the foster care scheme has helped in decreasing institutionalization of children, allowed children to grow in a family and led to a decrease in school dropout ratio. Normally, it has been seen that the immediate relatives of the orphaned child are willing to take on the role of foster parents," Chauhan said.

Under the scheme, the annual income of foster parents has to be more than 27,000 in rural areas and 36,000 in urban areas.

The district child protection unit seeks assurance from foster parents on stamp paper that they will not push children into marriage at an early age and they will ensure completion of study till Class XII. Children of age 6 and above must be enrolled in school and if the education stops, the assistance to the account of the child and the foster parents is discontinued.

