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Abstract
This article reflects different programmes and resource components that may be promoted to keep children with either their own family or within alternative family care, satisfying the rights of their overall development. In India, the concept of promoting family-based care mechanisms through government systems has not been fully realised, owing to lack of synergy between resource allocation and existing government programmes, policies and plans of action for child protection. Additionally, the common public discourse is that Child Care Institutions (CCIs) offer…
Abstract: India has around 20 million children living without families who need to be cared for through alternative forms of care. Udayan Care has an innovative group care model for children in need of care, utilising the indigenously developed LIFE (Living In Family Environment) strategy in its 13 UdayanGhars (Sunshine care homes). The model offers long-term permanent mentor parents to all children through the Carer team at its homes. Most often, children's direct input is not available to the management of care homes. To address this Udayan Care has developed the…
Abstract: The Family Based Care (FBC) program by SOS Children's Villages of India is a curative alternative care model for children who have lost parental care. The program is based on the principles of necessity and appropriateness under the UNCRC and is supported by four pillars; the mother, brothers and sisters, the home and the community. The non-biological mother is responsible for a smaller group of children, thus ensuring development and implementation of their individual care plans. Brothers and sisters create a safety net through mentoring, protecting and…
Article 20 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises the vulnerability of children growing up outside a family environment, and sets the ground for the paradigm of ‘institutions as a last resort’. However, ‘care homes’ or ‘hostels’ are still common forms of alternative care solutions for children from impoverished families in India. This article asks to what extent the clear impetus towards de-institutionalisation in human rights discourses, especially among international NGOs, has potential to change such practices. The study contributes to a body of scholarship…
This important study on foster care practices in India by BOSCO, a Bangalore based organization promoting a non-institutional model of child care and rehabilitation, provides important insight into the history, approaches, challenges and opportunities facing the development of foster care services in the country. It highlights that foster care has a long history in India spanning across five decades, yet despite this there was very little data available about the foster care organizations providing such services and the various models of foster care they practice. This study sought to remedy…
EveryChild is an international development charity working in 17 countries with a strategic focus on children without parental care. This document outlines EveryChild’s approach to the growing problem of children without parental care by defining key concepts, analysing the nature and extent of the problem, exploring factors which place children at risk of losing parental care, and examining the impact of a loss of parental care on children’s rights. It also provides principles for good practice in trying to reduce the number of children without parental…