If all goes well, three siblings living in a shelter home of Ranchi will soon get a new family to take care of them under the foster care scheme.

Foster care is a scheme under which children below 18 years of age are linked with a family which can take care of the and provide them a homely environment on a temporary basis. Seema Sharma, protection officer, non institutional care said, “The home verification of the family selected to foster the three siblings has been done and one final step of community verification is remaining. If we are satisfied with the family, the three siblings of 8 years, 6 years and 5 years of age, will be given to them for a short period.”

The foster care programme and sponsorship scheme, both were introduced in the state in April 2018. While the foster care provides a temporary home for a child living in a shelter home, the sponsorship programme offers financial assistance of Rs. 2000 per month to the family of any child who is from extremely poor background and cannot afford providing basic necessity to the child.

However, till date only one child has been sent to foster care and one is linked with the sponsorship scheme.

Member of child welfare committee (CWC), Ranchi Srikant Kumar said, “Both the schemes are very beneficial for the growth and development of children but there seems to be a huge lack of awareness regarding them. The number of applications coming in for foster care or adoption is very less.”

Sharma informed that till date CWC Ranchi has received only six applications for foster care of which two families were found suitable, and 15 applications for sponsorship. 

Talking about how the life of a nine year old boy changed after he was given in for foster to a family in October 2018, Sharma said, “The boy is very happy and seem to have adjusted with the new family. He is being homeschooled right now and would be enrolled in a good school by foster parents in April this year. The child is produced at CWC every month and we also go on a regular visit to his house.”

Under foster care scheme, a child is given to a family for a period of three months which is extended quarterly; depending on how well the child is adjusted and taken care of. “If an orphan child is given for foster care and he or she lives with the same family for five years, the family will get a preference in adoption process of that child,” Sharma said.

Srikant Kumar said that there is a need to spread awareness regarding both the schemes as they are very much important for the overall development of the child. “It is always better that a child lives with a family in a homely environment than living in a shelter home.”

Talking about the various steps being taken for spreading awareness regarding the two schemes, Kumar said, “An advertisement was published in local papers inviting applications for foster scheme by the district child protection officer. Such advertisements should be issued more often and people should also be reached out through radios.”

CWC also organises training sessions for Anganwadi workers in the city to spread awareness regarding the two schemes. “There are around 354 anganwadi workers in Ranchi city area and we are training them twice a month regarding the two schemes so that they can reach out to such families needing sponsorship or willing to take in a foster child,” Kumar said.