FAMILY AND COMMUNITY BASED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN

INTRODUCTIONIn today’s world, a vulnerable group needing recognition beyond generic documents and principles is that of children. Perhaps more than the other groups, children need special protection because of their fragile state of development, as they are readily susceptible to abuse and neglect. Thus, a child should have the basic rights to:

• Be protected against neglect, cruelty, abuse and exploitation

• Safe housing, healthcare, education that prepares them for future

• Be a unique person whose individuality is protected from violation

• Prepare for responsibilities of parenthood, family life and citizenship.

THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other UN documents echo a similar need to protect the child. As indicated in the Declaration on the Rights of the Child, “the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth” (United Nations, 1989).

CHILDREN AND MENTAL HEALTH

The National Policy for Children (1974) affirmed the constitutional provisions and declared that the policy of the state is to provide adequate services to children to ensure their full physical, mental and social development.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN

Family influences Providing stimulation to learn Social/ cultural exposure Problem-solving strategies Style of parent-child interaction Structure of daily routine Family involvement Parenting

STATUS OF CHILDREN — SOME FACTSClose to 137 million of the young citizens or nearly 30% (India Report — UN General Assembly Special Session on Children, May 2002) of our child population come from marginalized families and live below the poverty line in an acute state of deprivation with little or no access to certain minimum services which we take for granted such as safe drinking water, primary health facilities, universal primary education, adequate nutrition at the school and preschool level and shelter.

Coupled with poverty, they are known to face problems within their families due to illiteracy, lack of employment opportunities (especially in rural India), alcoholism, disability, HIV, AIDS, chronic illnesses, death, desertion by father, migration, natural calamities etc. These grave financial, social and emotional pressures seem to shake the very foundation of millions of our families thus affecting the most vulnerable members, the children who end up being neglected , often falling out of the family’s security net.

FAMILY AND COMMUNITY BASED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN — GOVERNMENT’S STAND

A response to the needs of many of these children both by the government and the community is caring for them in institutions which go by different names like shelters, orphanages, half-way homes, day care centers, fit persons institutions, foundling homes, Ashram schools and so on.

Several departments of the government such as Social Welfare, Backward Classes and Minorities, Women and Child development etc run these residential care facilities and also offer grant-in-aid to non-governmental organizations.

A number of public trusts, religious charities and philanthropic organizations and even individuals run similar institutions with public support.

FAMILY AND COMMUNITY BASED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN — GOVERNMENT’S STAND (CONT.)

Child care institutions provide education and residential care and offer services greatly valued by families who live in extreme deprivation. The quality of education provided in institutions being comparatively better than the free education provided by the State, it is no wonder that an increasing number of families flock to institutionalize their children most often by sending them to hostels.

TYPES OF SERVICES AVAILABLE FOR CHILDREN

1. Institutional care2. Families3. Sponsorship programmes4. Day care centers5. Adoption Agencies6. Foster care7. Other policies

INSTITUTIONAL CARE

The larger majority of children in institutions (over 90%) have one or both parents with whom majority are in touch with. Mostly the orphans, abandoned and destitute children, working and street children, juvenile offenders, children of sex workers or child sex workers, children engaging in substance abuse, AIDS affected children, children with disability etc. Are being referred for institutional care.

The age of discharge from such institutions is 18 years or on completion of the school-leaving examination when children return to live in the community independently or with their families and kith and kin.

FAMILIESChildren need a nurturing, protective and caring environment during their formative years and from time immemorial the family has proved to be the basic social unit which fulfills these needs. It offers children a legal status and promotes a sense of belonging.

Socialization and development of emotional ties within and outside the family are shaped by the early experiences within the family. A mess-like or a non-home situation can never substitute for a caring family life and equip children to face the world.

SPONSORSHIP PROGRAMMES

The sponsorship programme is currently one of the most effective services in the country which is preserving a number of poor urban families. It has bilateral and international funding agencies such as Save the Children Fund, Child Relief and You (CRY), Plan International, Christian Children Fund, Action Aid etc, which has began providing sponsorship support to children either directly or in partnership with local non-governmental organizations working with marginalized communities.

A sponsorship programme offers supervised financial assistance to pay for day care/ school/ vocational training and could include nutrition, healthcare and improving community services.

It is generally made possible only through the care and concern of a sponsor who provides the financial assistance to sponsor a child through an agency.

DAY CARE CENTERSCaring for pre-school children during the day is a service gaining popularity in the country today with an increasing number of women seeking employment.

Day care centers for the two plus age group almost always include a preschool component.

The Anganwadis run through the Government of India’s Integrated Child Development Services scheme serves marginalized families and is a major day-care scheme covering over 18.5 million children below the age of six years. It provides a package of services for children and includes health and nutrition education for mothers with the objective of enhancing the childcare capabilities of the mother. It offers daycare services to children for three to four hours a day while their mothers are working.

ADOPTION AGENCIES

For one or more reasons a number of children are abandoned or orphaned leaving them without family contact. Therefore, adoption would be the best rehabilitation option as it offers permanency of relationships — a family for a child and a child for a family.

It is a legal and social process by which the child of one set of parents becomes the child of another set of parents. Adoption is best arranged through a licensed adoption placement agency which cares for adoptable children and offers professional support to families seeking a child in terms of preparing them for adoption.

In India, there is no uniform law of adoption. Only Hindus can legally adopt a child under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA), 1956 which allows only Hindus to adopt a child and does not permit the adoption of two children of the same sex.

FOSTER CAREFoster care refers to the provision of planned, time limited , temporary substitute family care for a child who cannot remain in his/her home (either temporarily or permanently) due to a family crisis or problem. It provides a child an opportunity to live in a family environment while a permanent family solution is being explored.

Foster care seems particularly suitable for older children who have been through long years of institutional care or survived on the streets or spent hard years on their own families and find it difficult to bond closely to adults.

Today, foster care is also being redefined to include day foster care, night foster care . Weekend foster care, short-term foster care, long-term foster care etc. within an institution under a housemother

OTHER POLICIES National Health Policy

The Government of India, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare developed and published the “National Health Policy” in 1983. The document gave a general exposition of the policies. The National Health Policy was endorsed by the Parliament of India in 1983 and updated in 2002. In brief, the draft constitutes a return to the concept of centrally-directed, institution-based health care. A further perusal of the document throws up many fundamental concerns such as the creation of an infrastructure for primary healthcare; close co-ordination with health-related services and activities (like nutrition, drinking water supply and sanitation); active involvement and participation of voluntary organisations; provision of essential drugs and vaccines; qualitative improvement in health and family planning services; provision of adequate training; and medical research aimed at the common health problems of the people. The draft recommends an increase in public health expenditure from the present 0.9 per cent of GDP to 2.0 per cent in 2010.

 

OTHER POLICIES National Rural Health Mission

 

National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is an Indian health program for improving health care delivery across rural India. The mission, initially mooted for 7 years (2005-2012), is run by the Ministry of Health. The scheme proposes a number of new mechanisms for healthcare delivery including training local residents as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), and the Janani Surakshay Yojana (motherhood protection program). It also aims at improving hygiene and sanitation infrastructure.

The mission has a special focus on 18 states Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Orissa, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

The largest programme under NRHM, covering India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, has been clouded by a large-scale corruption scandal in which two apex health officials have been murdered. The state government headed by Chief Minister Mayawati has been accused of fraud to the tune of Rs. 10,000 crores (USD2 billion)

CONCLUSION

It is high time we reflect on the magnitude and diversity of challenges children and families face in India and make a strong assertion for an explicit national family policy and a comprehensive child welfare legislation to include provisions which uphold the rights of al children especially those in difficult circumstances to grow up in families and in the larger communities.

THANKS….