NEW DELHI: A new guidelines that promotes “group foster care” to abandoned and orphaned children, who are declared legally free for adoption by Child Welfare Committee but fail to find a home through adoption, has been released by the Centre.
According to the Model Guidelines for Foster Care, 2016, prepared by the Women and Child Development Ministry, a facility or a home that is found fit for children which can “provide personalised care and a sense of belonging, identity and emotional security” can adopt not more than eight children.
Group foster care is an “intermittent” arrangement for children picked up from a street and before they can be given to a foster family.
To be eligible for group foster care a facility has to be first registered under Juvenile Justice Act, 2016. It has to be also registered as an NGO on the website of NITI Aayog. Following which a Child Welfare Committee determines whether it is fit or not.
The facility is also required to be sufficiently spacious with proper amenities for a group of children including an in-house kitchen and separate toilets and bathroom with at least one toilet for every four children. (AGENCIES)
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