Scheme of Assistance to Homes (Shishu Greh) for Children to promote In-Country Adoption

VOLUME – I :
1. Scheme of Assistance to Homes for Children (Shishu Greh) to Promote In-country Adoption – a Brief*
2. Objectives/ Purpose of the Scheme :

THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE SCHEME ARE :

(i) to regulate adoption within the country and to ensure minimum standards in care of children;

(ii) to provide institutional support within the country for care and protection of infants and children up to 6 years of age who are either abandoned or orphaned/destitute and for their rehabilitation through in-country adoption; and

(III) TO PROMOTE IN-COUNTRY ADOPTIONS.
 
3. Funding Pattern :

Financial assistance to Homes would be granted in the ratio of 90:10, i.e., the Government of India would provide grant to the extent of 90% and the remaining 10% would be met by the Organization on its own. As regards Government-run-Institution, 100% grant would be provided to them subject to a ceiling of Rs. 6,00,000/- in a financial year. The fresh proposal should be routed through the concerned Department of the State Government.
 
4. Criteria/ Eligibility for Assistance :

(i) NGOs registered under the Societies Registration Act (1860) or under Public Trust Act with minimum three (03) years of experience in the field of child welfare. Relaxation may be given for North-Eastern States & Jammu & Kashmir on merit.

(ii) The NGO/Trust should also be registered with the State Government under the Orphanages and other Charitable Homes (Supervision and Control) Act, 1960 or any other Act /Rule / Law as may be prevalent in the State.

(iii) Government-run-Children Homes should be permitted by the respective State Governments for doing in-country adoption before they are eligible for apply for Grant-in-Aid under the Scheme.
 
5. Implementing Agency :

CENTRAL ADOPTION RESOURCE Authority (CARA), MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT, R.K. PURAM, NEW DELHI - 110066

6. Whom to Contact :

THE SECRETARY
CENTRAL ADOPTION RESOURCE Authority (CARA),
MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT,
West Block – VIII, Wing – II, 2nd Floor, R.K. Puram, New Delhi – 110066
Tel. : 011-26105346, 26180196, 26106725, 26106783, Telefax : 011-26180198,
E-mail : cara@bol.net.in, Website : www.adoptionindia.nic.in

* for Compendium of Schemes & Programmes of the Ministry of Women & Child Development, (Revised Edition, Vol – I).

SCHEME OF ASSISTANCE TO HOMES FOR CHILDREN (SHISHU GREH) TO PROMOTE IN-COUNTRY ADOPTION
 
1.1 The Government of India recognizes that the welfare of society, its growth and development depends to a great extent on the health and well - being of its children. The National Policy for Children recognizes that the nation’s children are a supremely important asset and their nurture and solicitude is the responsibility of the nation.

1.2 It is indeed the joint responsibility of the society at large and the State to provide both institutional and non-institutional support to destitute children. Traditionally, our society has been providing support through charitable institutions and non-institutional activities like adoption, guardianship and foster care.

1.3 It is an accepted fact that the child develops best in his or her own cultural and social milieu. Thus placement of a child through adoption in an indigenous setting would be ideal for his or her growth and development. Inter-country adoption, i.e. adoption of Indian children by adoptive parents residing abroad, should be resorted to only if all efforts to place the child with adoptive parents residing in India prove unsuccessful. Generally, in all matters concerning adoption, whether within the country or abroad, the welfare and interest of the child should be paramount.

1.4 There is a need to have a Central Scheme under which assistance is provided to organizations, which are making efforts to rehabilitate children within the country through sponsorship, foster-care or adoption. There are very few organizations, which are working in this field, and on account of the paucity of funds, these are often not in a position to offer children to couples and families with limited income, as it is not possible to recover the cost of maintenance and other miscellaneous expenses from them.

1.5 A large number of children are abandoned or orphaned, these days for various socio-economic reasons viz., due to the changes in the traditional social structures and community support systems, on account of the pressures of modern day living or due to urbanization and industrialization. The children are thus left to fend for themselves in greater numbers. Therefore, the need for creating and setting up alternative support system in the community is very urgent. In order to encourage voluntary organizations to take on the responsibility for
1 providing care, protection, nurture to the children and to find placement for them in families for ensuring their proper growth and development, it has been felt necessary to, strengthen the existing scheme for setting up Homes (Shishu Greh) for children in the age group of 0-6 in the country, preferably in rural areas.

1.6 Presently adoption is carried out in the country both formally and informally. Formal adoptions take place under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act. Destitute and orphan children are also taken in guardianship under the Guardianship and Wards Act. In addition a large number of adoptions take place between families and relatives as also through the unofficial channels such as Nursing Homes etc. It has been noted that there is no single regulatory authority or act, which covers both formal and private adoptions. It is, therefore, felt that the State Governments need to play a more active role in order to ensure that adoptions take place only after proper documentation and scrutiny of the prospective parents has been done. The first step would be to make it mandatory for all State Governments to register Orphanages and Homes, which are active in the field of adoptions. The practice of Nursing Homes illegally passing on unwanted babies to families / couples should be severely dealt with. The presence of organizations both Government and Non-Government for care and protection of young children would create a conducive environment for adoption and lead to better awareness and increase social responsibility amongst citizens towards the need to encourage and promote adoption as a viable alternative for rehabilitating orphans and destitute children.

2 TITLE OF THE SCHEME:
 
2.1 The title of the scheme may be read as “Scheme of Assistance to Homes (Shishu Greh) for Children to promote In-Country Adoption.”
 
3 OBJECTIVES :
 
3.1 The main objectives of the scheme are

(i) to regulate adoption within the country to ensure minimum standards in care of children (Broad minimum standard of Child Care Homes is at Annexure –I;)

(ii) to provide support for institutional care within the country for care and protection of infants and children up-to 6 years of age who are either abandoned or orphaned/destitute and their rehabilitation through in-country adoption and

(iii) to promote in-country adoptions.

4. COVERAGE, SCOPE AND ELIGIBILITY :
 
4.1 NGOs should be registered/ licensed with minimum 3 years experience in the field of child welfare and running an institution successfully. Relaxation may be given for North-Eastern States and for Jammu & Kashmir on merit. Only those organizations doing in-country adoptions are eligible for grant-in-aid. Institutions run by the Government will also be eligible for grant under the Shishu Greh Scheme. In case of Government Institutions, they should be permitted by the State Government to sponsor the rehabilitation of children through in-country adoptions. Placement Agencies recognized for inter-country adoptions by CARA will not be eligible for grant under the scheme. Such Agencies which are currently receiving grants may continue to do so for one more year during which time they will have to arrange for the rehabilitation of the remaining children in the programme. No further grants will be given after 2001-02 to these agencies.
 
4.2 Priority should be given to organizations/orphanages, which are not receiving funds from any other sources.

4.3 For the purpose of the Scheme, children would mean children from 0-6 years.

4.4 Assistance under this scheme will be given to NGOs and Government Institutions which fulfill the following conditions:

a) It should be registered with the State Government under the Orphanages and other charitable homes (Supervision and Control) Act, 1960 or any other Act / Rule / Law as may be prevalent in the State.

b) It should be registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

c) A public trust registered under the law for the time being in force: or

d) A government run Institution/ Home for children as defined in Para 4.1

e) Any other organization, which may be approved by the Secretary, Ministry of Women & Child Development.
 
5 PROGRAMMES & ACTIVITIES :
 
5.1 Grant –in Aid will be provided for a unit of 10 infants whose number may fluctuate depending on progress of adoption cases. Grant-in aid will be liable to be cancelled if the organization does not show satisfactory adoption activity in a given year. A Minimum of 10 children should be placed in In-country Adoption within 2 years period. If within 2 years of its stay in the Home, a child is not offered in adoption, he/she should be transferred to any other Orphanage/ Home/recognized Placement Agency with the prior permission of CARA. Shishu Grehs will provide list of available children to the nearest VCA every month, which will refer Adoptive Parents in waiting lists maintained by it or other VCAs to the Shishu Greh.

5.2. State Governments should –

i) take action to enact or implement legislation/provision for licensing and monitoring of orphanages(both Govt. and private) including Shishu Greh.

ii) maintain a list of all orphanages, Shishu Grehs, adoption & placement agencies.

iii) ensure channelization of adoption of children through recognized institutions and not from hospitals, nursing homes, etc.

iv) keep vigil constantly and monitor and supervise the functioning of the organization and send a report, at least once a year to CARA.

5.3 Keeping in mind the primary objective of providing shelter for destitute infants, such organizations can undertake the following activities:

a) Opening of Homes for destitute infants in the age group of 0-6 years with the strength of 10 children with a view to finding adoptive families for them. Such destitute infants could be abandoned/surrendered who are legally free for adoption.

b) Homes, which are already running on funds available from other sources, can also apply for separate grants for specific purposes such as purchase of medicines and utensils, library books, cradles, mattresses, learning materials, which could include toys also.

c) Such other activities as may be specified by the Ministry in accordance with the objectives of the scheme.

5.4 The organizations are permitted to charge a maintenance fee of Rs. 1,500/- per child per month from the adoptive families from the date of acceptance of the child till final orders of adoption. A statement of such charges received from adoptive families will have to be included in the application for continuing grants and wherever applicable the same will be deducted from the maintenance allowance included in the grant.

5.5 Adoptive parents capable of making full payments including Court fees and other legal expenses should be encouraged to refund these to the organization.

6 Admissible items :

The admissible items under the scheme include:
a) Rent for the building in which the project is being run as per Scheme norms.
b) Purchase of furniture as per Scheme norms.
c) Purchase of non-recurring items as per Scheme norms.
d) Honorarium to admissible staff on Scheme norms.
e) Maintenance grant of children including food, clothing, soap, oil, education, transportation, medicine, honorarium to doctors as per Scheme norms.
f) Education including material for use in learning skills and creating awareness as per Scheme norms.
g) Stationery as per Scheme norms.
h) Contingencies, which includes TA/DA and other such expenditure as per Scheme norms.
i) Payment of legal expenses as per Scheme norms.
The above is not exhaustive but merely an illustrative list of items for which assistance may be provided. The Ministry may provide assistance for any other item connected with the activities referred to in Para 5 above.
 
7 FINANCIAL PROVISION :
 
7.1 The total outlay for one home is estimated to be as below:
 
A Recurring Expenditure :
(In Rupees)
S. No. Particulars of Staff No. Salary per Month Annual Expenditure Consolidated
1 2 3 4 5
(i) Staff
1.
Superintendent
one
honorary
Nil
2. Nurse (female)-cum-Supervisor one 5,500/- 66,000.00
3. Ayas (*) six 2,000/- 1,44,000.00
4. Social Worker-cum- Assistant one 5,500/- 66,000.00
5. Doctor (part-time) to visit home at least thrice a week for checking. one 3,000/- 36,000.00
6. Chowkidar one 2,000/- 24,000.00

Total (1 to 6) 3,36,000.00

(ii) Maintenance grant of ten (10) Children @ Rs. 1,500 per child per month to cover expenses on food, clothing, soap, oil, education, transportation, medicines, electricity and water charges of office, play materials etc.) 1,80,000.00
(iii) Rent (up to Rs. 4,000/- p.m.)** 48,000.00
(iv) Payment of legal expenses to the advocate engaged in adoption case @ Rs. 1,500/- per child in case the adoptive Indian parents are not in a position to pay subject to a maximum of 10 children. The sanction will be based on actual No. of adoptions and production of Lawyer’s receipt.
15,000.00
(v) Awareness campaign through posters, meetings with prospective parents, participation in workshops etc.
15,000.00
(vi) Contingency 14,000.00
Total (i) to (vi) 6,08,000.00
B Non-Recurring Expenditure (One time grant only) :
(In Rupees)
S.NO. PARTICULAR NO. AMOUNT
I Table double size drawers @ Rs. 3,000/- One 3,000.00
II Chairs @ Rs. 200/- each Five 1,000.00
III Steel Almirahs @ 5000 each Two 10,000.00
IV Cradles for babies with mattress @ Rs. 3000/- each Ten 30,000.00
V Steel Cot Rs. 3,000/- each Two 6,000.00
VI Misc. equipment’s for Kitchen 5,000.00

Total (I to VI) 55,000.00
Grand Total ( A + B ) Rs. 6,63,000.00
Less 10% ( Organization’s Share ) Rs. 66,300.00

NET GRANT ( 90% GOVERNMENT’S SHARE ) Rs. 5,96,700.00

THE ABOVE PATTERN IS FOR A SINGLE UNIT OF 10 CHILDREN.
(*) Provision of 6 Ayas (4 Ayas for 10 children and one more Aya for every addition of 5 children with maximum of 20 children).
(**) Maintenance charges up to a maximum of Rs. 10,000/- per annum for a rented building and up to a maximum of Rs. 20,000/- per annum for a self owned building subject to production of receipts and an upper ceiling of Rs. 6.00 lakhs of the over all grant-in-aid.
 
8 FUNDING PATTERN :
 
8.1 Financial assistance to Homes would be granted in the ratio of 90:10 i.e. the Government of India would provide grant to the extent of 90% and the remaining 10% would be met by the Organization of its own. As regards, Government Run Institution 100% grant would be provided to them subject to a ceiling of Rs. 6,00,000/- in a financial year.
 
9 PROCEDURE :

9.1 Any Government Run Institution or private Child Welfare Organization engaged in adoption activities desirous of applying under this scheme should send its application in the prescribed application form (Annexure-II) through the concerned State Government to the Secretary, Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India, West Block-8, Wing-II, 2nd Floor, R. K. Puram, New Delhi- 110 066 (Tel.:- 011-26106783, Ext. 24, 26105346). Fresh Grant-in-aid will be effective only from the date of sanction and no retrospective grants will be released. All grant-in-aid both for new and ongoing projects will have to be approved and sanctioned by the Ministry of Women & Child Development.

9.2 The grants will be released to the organizations in two half-yearly installments.

9.3 Since this scheme is of sensitive nature, it is desirable that only reputed voluntary organizations may be given aid under this scheme. All new cases have to be recommended by the concerned State government.

9.4 The first installment will be released as soon as possible for the year to which the application pertains. The second and last installment will be released on the basis of the performance of the organization in the field of Indian Adoption, submission of audited statements of accounts for the proceeding financial year, un-audited accounts of the first installment of the grant, submission of utilization certificate of grant released and on the specific recommendation with inspection report of the State Government concerned.
 
10 Bond :

The organization will execute before a grant is released an agreement bond to the effect that in the event of its failure to abide by any or all the conditions stipulated in the sanction order, organization shall refund with interest thereon the whole or such parts of the grant as the Ministry of Women & Child Development may decide. Further, the organization will also be liable to refund any unutilized portion of the grant to the Government of India failing which the same shall be adjusted in subsequent grants.
 
11 Accounts :

a) The organization will open a separate Bank Account as well as maintain a separate account of the grants received under the scheme which shall be open to inspection by any officer or agency deputed by the Government of India or State government for the purpose. These shall also be open to test check by Comptroller & Auditor General of India at his discretion.

b) A register of assets will also be maintained by the organization for all items and above, purchased
under the grant.

c) At the close of each financial year, a detailed statement of accounts along with utilization certificate will have to be submitted by the organization to the Government of India.
 
12 MONITORING & EVALUATION :

12.1 In order to ensure that the objectives envisaged under the scheme are pursued and realized there will be need for constant monitoring of both physical and financial achievements. The Central government will evaluate the performance of the Organizations in the field of In-country adoption from time to time. The concerned State Governments will also get the periodic inspection of the organizations done and send a report on their performance to the Central government, Ministry of Women & Child Development. Besides, State Government’s inspection, CARA and Ministry may also send their own officers for special inspections from time to time or designate specific nodal agencies such as Voluntary Coordinating Agencies before releasing any grant. Two percent of the total budget can be utilized for monitoring and evaluation purpose.

12.2 The organizations shall furnish to the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), Ministry of Women & Child Development, the half-yearly progress report on its activities. At the close of the financial year the organizations shall also submit the Annual Report of the activities undertaken during the year.

Annexure - I
 
MINIMUM STANDARDS IN CHILD CARE HOMES
 
1. The Organization must have adequate staff for child care, preferably in the ratio of 4:1 for children below 1 year, 6:1 for children in the age group of 1 to 3 years, and 8:1 for older children.
 
2. Physical Facilities :
 
•Physical surroundings in which the children are cared for must be clean. Sanitation and hygiene maintained at the agency must be adequate, since a majority of children at the institution are small and suffer from numerous ailments.
•Good lighting, ventilation, adequate space must be mandatory.
•Walls and surroundings must be bright and stimulating. Often the walls are white and drab and there is a stark absence of toys or colourful objects for children.
 
3. Medical Facilities :

•Regular medical inspection must be done, preferably every alternate day by a registered medical practitioner who is a qualified and experienced pediatrician. The child specialist is best trained to diagnose and treat children who are at risk and highly vulnerable.
 
4. Recreational and educational Facilities :
 
•Recreational facilities should be provided to the children of the home, especially play activities for the children.
•For children between 3 to 6 years basic non- formal educational facilities should be provided.
5. Counseling Services :

•Each Organization must provide counseling services to prospective adoptive parents. All Indian couples / individuals desirous of being registered should be accommodated and a list of such couples / individuals should be sent to local VCA. Proper records in this regard must be maintained by the Organizations.
. The Organizations should fulfill all the requirements of the Act under which license is being granted to them.

Shishu Greh Scheme - Application Form & Checklist available at http://www.karmayog.org/redirect/strred.asp?docId=16630

STATE-WISE RELEASE OF THE GRANT-IN-AID TO VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS UNDER THE SCHEME OF ASSISTANCE TO HOMES FOR CHILDREN (SHISHU GREH) TO PROMOTE  IN-COUNTRY ADOPTION DURING THE YEAR 2004-05, 2005-06 & 2006-07 (AS ON 31.03.2007) available at  http://www.karmayog.org/adoption/adoption_16629.htm