Centre clarifies children aged below six not eligible for foster care placement

New Delhi, Sep 24 (PTI) The government has clarified that children aged below six are not eligible for placement in foster care, following concerns over differing interpretations of the new regulations, an official statement said.

In an office memorandum issued last week, the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) pointed to Rule 23(3) of the Juvenile Justice Rules and point 4(1) of the Model Foster Care Guidelines, which states that only children aged six years and above are eligible for placement in foster care, under circumstances defined in Rule 44 of the Act.

The statutory body noted that some agencies had raised issues regarding the interpretation of the regulations, prompting the clarification.

"Therefore, it is reiterated that no child who is less than six years of age shall be placed under Foster Care... Any deviation from this would be construed as a violation of said Rule and Model Foster Care Guidelines, 2024," the memorandum noted.

The directive has been sent to all State Adoption Resource Agencies (SARAs), District Child Protection Units (DCPUs), and Specialised Adoption Agencies (SAAs) to ensure uniform compliance.

Foster care is being introduced as an alternative family-based care system for children who cannot be looked after by their biological parents, but are not declared legally free for adoption.

According to official data, the number of children in non-institutional care, including sponsorship, foster care and aftercare, has increased fourfold between 2021-22 and 2023-24.

In 2021-22, 29,331 children were covered by non-institutional care. The numbers rose to 62,675 in 2022-23 and further to 1,21,861 in 2023-24. PTI UZM APL NB