PROGRAMMES FOR CARE AND PROTECTION OF
CHILDREN
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The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000
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The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, which has replaced the earlier Juvenile Justice Act, 1986, has been enforced in the entire country except the State of Jammu & Kashmir w.e.f 1st April 2001. The new law is friendlier and provides for proper care and protection. A clear distinction has been made in this Act between the juvenile offender and neglected child. It also prescribes a uniform age of 18 years below which both boys and girls are to be treated as children. It also aims to enable increased accessibility to a juvenile or the child by establishing Juvenile Justice Boards and Child Welfare Committees and Homes in each district or group of districts. In order to ensure speedy implementation of the new law on Juvenile Justice, the Ministry framed Model Rules under the Act for the guidelines of State Governments/AT administrations. These Rules were published in the Gazette of India (Extra Ordinary) dated 22nd June, 2001 and were also circulated to all the state Governments/UT Administrations with the request to either adopt these Model Rules or frame their own Rules on the basis of these Model Rules.
A Bill seeking amendment to The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 was introduced in Lok Sabha on 24th July, 2003 and it was referred to the Standing Committee on Labour and Welfare for examination. However, the Lok Sabha was dissolved before the committee could submit its report and the Bill lapsed.
Thereafter, consultations were made with several Departments, child welfare organizations, legal and child welfare experts regarding the Bill on the amendment proposals of the Act. Based on consultations, revised amendment proposal had been prepared and submitted to the Cabinet for its approval. The Cabinet in its meeting held on 18.08.05 approved the proposal. Thereafter, Ministry introduced the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill 2005 in the Lok Sabha on 29.08.05 and Hon’ble Speaker referred the Bill to the Standing Committee on Social Justice & Empowerment for examination and report. After the work re-allocation, the subject matter of the Act came under the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Detailed consultations with State Governments and NGOs/Child Welfare Experts were held on the possible amendments. Thereafter, an amendment Act with more comprehensive amendment provisions was got passed in both houses of Parliament. The amendment Act has come into effect from 23.08.2006.
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A Programme for Juvenile Justice
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 lays down the primary law for not only the care and protection of the children but also for the adjudication and disposition of matters relating to children in conflict with law. For the implementation of the Act, the Ministry is implementing a plan Scheme called, ‘A Programme for Juvenile Justice’. The objectives of the Programme for Juvenile Justice are:
To extend help to State Governments to bear the cost of infrastructure and services development under the Juvenile Justice Act in order to ensure that in no circumstances the child in conflict with law is lodged in a regular prison.
To ensure minimum quality standards in the juvenile justice services
To provide adequate services for prevention of social maladjustment and rehabilitation of socially maladjusted juveniles
Ensure participation of community and other organizations into the care and protection of children in conflict with law who are perhaps more vulnerable than other groups of children
Under the scheme, the Ministry provides 50% assistance to State Governments and UT Administrations for establishment and maintenance of various levels of institutions for juveniles in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection. During the year 2005-06, an amount of Rs. 20.03 crore was released to 23 States/UTs. The budget outlay for the current financial year is Rs. 25.00 crore.
Integrated Child Protection Scheme (Draft)
BACKGROUND
In the light of its expanded mandate, the Ministry of Women and Child Development views ‘Child Protection’ as an essential component of the country’s strategy to place ‘Development of the child at the centre of the Eleventh Plan’, as envisaged in the Approach Paper to the Eleventh Plan.
The Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) is, therefore proposed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development as a centrally sponsored scheme to address the issue of child protection and build a protective environment for children through Government-Civil Society Partnership.
Why ICPS?
· Child protection is integrally linked to every other right of the child. Failure to ensure children’s right to protection adversely affects all other rights of the child.
· Child protection is also closely linked to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and policy makers have failed to see this connection or chosen to overlook it.
· Most existing mechanisms on child protection cater to post-harm situations. Preventive measures to reduce vulnerability of children and their families and to prevent children from falling out of the protective net are completely lacking in both the approach to child protection as well as programmatic intervention.
· There are multiple vertical schemes for child protection scattered under different Ministries/Departments, for example, the Labour Ministry is responsible for child labour elimination programmes, Ministry of Women and Child Development takes care of juvenile justice, child trafficking and adoption related matters, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare looks into the implementation of PC&PNDT Act to check female foeticide.
· There are glaring gaps in the infrastructure, set up and outreach services for children, as they exist now. These include:
- Poor planning and coordination – prevention has never been part of planning for child protection. Lack of lateral linkages with other sectors for ensuring prevention of violence, abuse or any other harm to children and protection of those outside the safety net has failed to ensure social justice.
§ Low coverage - numbers of children outside the safety net with no support and services is ever increasing and lack of systematic and comprehensive mapping of children in need of care and protection or of the services available for them at the district/city/state level results in low and poor coverage.
§ Poor Infrastructure - the minimal government structure that exists is rigid and a lot of time and energy goes in maintaining the structure itself rather than concentrating on programmatic outcomes. Moreover even the infrastructure prescribed by law is not in place, for example, JJBs and CWCs under the Juvenile Justice Act are lacking, shelter and institutional care facilities are also highly inadequate.
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Inadequate Resources
– child protection constitutes only 0.034 percent of the total Union
Budget. Not only is allocation of resources poor in terms of
geographical spread, even the utilization of resources is uneven.
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Serious Service Gaps
– there is a lack of services to deal with all
categories of children in need of care and protection and supervision,
monitoring and evaluation of programmes and services are weak. Child
protection is not a priority in the States either.
- Poor understanding of child rights and lack of child friendly approach affect both planning and service delivery.
THE ICPS: OBJECTIVES & PROGRAMME FRAMEWORK
The ICPS brings together multiple vertical schemes under one comprehensive child protection scheme, combining existing child protection schemes of the Ministry and integrating interventions for protecting children and preventing harm. The ICPS therefore broadly aims at:
(i) Institutionalising essential services and strengthening structures
(ii) Enhancing capacities at all levels
(iii) Creating database and knowledge base for child protection services
(iv) Strengthening child protection at family and community level
(v) Ensuring appropriate inter-sectoral response at all levels
The scheme proposes to achieve the above-mentioned objectives through effective implementation of the following child protection services at district, state and regional levels:
1. Emergency Outreach Service through Childline
2. Drop-in Shelters for Marginalized Children
3. Non Institution Based Family Care
· Adoption
· Foster Care
· Sponsorship
· After-Care
· Cradle Baby Reception Centre
4. Institutional Services
· Shelter Homes
· Children’s Homes
· Observation Homes
· Special Homes
· Specialised services for Children with special needs
5. General Grant-in-Aid for Need Based/Innovative Interventions
6. Statutory Support Services:
7. Training and Capacity Building:
8. Strengthening the Knowledge-base
9. Advocacy and Communication:
10. Monitoring and Evaluation
· Monitoring at Central level
· Monitoring at State level
· Monitoring at District level
SERVICE DELIVERY STRUCTURE
· State Child Protection Unit (SCPU)
· State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA)
· District Child Protection Unit (DCPU)
The Central Adoption Resource Agency(CARA) is an autonomous body under the Bureau. It deals with all matters relating to child adoptions. The following schemes are presently being implemented through CARA:
Assistance to Homes for Infants and Young Children for Promoting In-country Adoption :
Under this Scheme financial assistance is provided to non-governmental organizations which are maintaining destitute and orphan children with a view to rehabilitating them through In-country Adoptions. Grant-in-aid is provided upto Rs. 6 lakhs per year to each Shishu Greh which covers costs for maintaining the children such as Staff, Medicines and other necessities.Programme for Voluntary Coordinating Agency: Under this Programme financial assistance is provided from the General Grant-in-aid Programme for Assistance in the Field of Social Defence to Voluntary Coordinating Agencies (VCAs) which are involved in active promotion of In-country Adoptions and clearance of children for Inter-country Adoptions at the State level.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC COOPERATION AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (NIPCCD):
The Child Protection Schemes being implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment till last year have been transferred to the Ministry of Women and Child Development. The training and capacity building of service providers and research and documentation in the area of child protection was earlier carried out by the National Institute of Social Defence (NISD), which is an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. While the child protection programmes were transferred to the Ministry of WCD, the NISD remains with the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.
In view of the above, National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) will function as the “Nodal Centre” for training capacity building as well as research and documentation on child protection. A separate Child Protection Division within NIPCCD has been proposed under the proposed Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) to strengthen NIPCCD for carrying out this additional responsibility of training and capacity building as well as research and documentation on child protection issues. In the Eleventh Plan, the strengthened NIPCCD with the support of its regional centers and the State/District Child Protection Units under the proposed ICPS and voluntary sector will fulfill this responsibility.
GOI-UNICEF Work Plan for Child Protection:
The Ministry of Women and Child Development and UNICEF jointly implement an Annual Work Plan of Cooperation for Child Protection. The Annual Work Plan for the Year 2007 is presently being finalized in consultation with UNICEF.