Yongchingkumla, Tosheli Zhimomi, and other participants at
Highland Park, Kohima, on Thursday.
KOHIMA — Asserting
that foster care is an important yet often overlooked issue, the Secretary to
the Government of Nagaland, Department of Social Welfare, Yongchingkumla, on
Thursday urged stakeholders to uphold guidelines and enforce them with
compassion.
She was addressing the inaugural ceremony of the National
Adoption Awareness Month event held at Highland Park, Kohima, for Nagaland. The
event was organised by the State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA), under Mission
Vatsalya, Department of Social Welfare, and sponsored by the Central Adoption
Resource Authority (CARA), Ministry of Women and Child Development.
Yongchingkumla stated that every year, thousands of children
enter the foster care system due to abuse, neglect, or circumstances that
prevent their biological families from safely caring for them.
She informed that the Ministry of Women and Child
Development has released the Model Foster Care Guidelines 2024, an updated
version of the existing framework aimed at moving beyond institutional care and
ensuring a nurturing family environment for vulnerable children.
The official highlighted that the key features of the 2024
Guidelines are grounded in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of
Children) Act, 2015 (as amended in 2021), which ensures that foster care
practices are aligned with national child protection laws.
Pointing out the eligibility criteria, she said that
children between the ages of 6 and 18 years who are in need of care and
protection are eligible for foster care. Foster parents, on the other hand,
must be Indian citizens residing in India, and they should be physically,
mentally, and financially stable.
She also outlined the different types of foster care under
the updated guidelines: short-term foster care provides temporary care to
children until they can either return to their biological families or be placed
in long-term care, while long-term foster care offers extended support for
children who are unable to return to their biological families.
She stated that group foster care involves caring for a
group of children in a family-like setting. Additionally, she informed that
there is foster care leading to adoption, where the foster care arrangement may
eventually result in the child being adopted by the foster family.
She noted that the Government of India has tailored the
guidelines to extend protection to every child in need of care by making the
eligibility criteria more flexible and simplifying the procedures.
“As implementing agencies of child care, it is now up to us
to put these guidelines into practice and thereby provide opportunities to
every child who deserves a loving and nurturing home,” she stated, calling upon
all stakeholders to forge ahead, as it is not just about having guidelines but
about enforcing them with compassion, transparency, and accountability.
Meanwhile, Tosheli Zhimomi, Director of the Social Welfare
Department and CEO and member secretary of the State Adoption Resource Agency,
said India is home to millions of children in need of care and protection.
While adoption can be the ultimate solution for these
children, foster care offers an equally important and more immediate response
for those who cannot stay with their biological parents, she added and briefly
outlined the updated foster care guidelines.
The director maintained that the guidelines also broaden the
pool of prospective foster parents. Single individuals aged 35 to 60,
regardless of marital status (unmarried, widowed, divorced, or legally
separated), are now eligible to foster children.
She added that single women can foster and adopt children of
any gender, while single men are permitted to foster and adopt male children
only. Married couples must have a combined age between 70 and 110 years to
foster children aged 6 to 12 and between 70 and 115 years for children aged 12
to 18.
Zhimomi also highlighted several procedural changes under
the new guidelines and noted that the mandatory fostering period before a
foster family can adopt a child has been reduced from five years to two years,
enabling quicker transitions to permanent homes.
Informing that prospective foster parents can now register
online through the Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System
(CARINGS), simplifying the application process, while the previous one-month
interim order restricting interaction between the child and foster family has
been removed to allow more immediate placements.
To oversee these processes, Zhimomi said each district will
establish a Sponsorship and Foster Care Approval Committee (SFCAC), headed by
the district magistrate. This committee is responsible for reviewing and
approving sponsorships and foster care placements, ensuring decisions are made
in the best interest of the child.
She emphasised the importance of fully understanding the
2024 foster care guidelines to avoid errors in implementation.
