EVERY
CHILD MATTERS: GOVERNANCE
NEWS:
Every Child Matters: Advocating for Adoption
WHAT’S
IN THE NEWS?
Adoption Awareness Month 2024, led by CARA, focuses on
legal adoptions for older and special-needs children, promoting transparency
through the CARINGS portal. Public campaigns and digital initiatives aim to
ensure every child finds a loving, stable home.
Introduction
- Every child has the right to
a secure and nurturing environment, and adoption provides a pathway for
orphaned, abandoned, or surrendered children to experience family care.
- Legal adoption focuses on
ensuring the best interests of the child through ethical, transparent, and
child-centered processes.
Adoption
Awareness Month 2024
- Annual Observance: Celebrated each November,
highlighting the importance of adoption and foster care in providing homes
for vulnerable children.
- Theme 2024: “Rehabilitation of Older
Children through Foster Care and Foster Adoption,” emphasizing the need
for family care for older children and those with special needs.
Key
Activities:
- Engagement Programs: Cultural events,
interactive sessions, and Q&A forums for prospective and current
adoptive parents (PAPs).
- Digital Campaigns: MyGov India collaborations
for storytelling, poster-making, and surveys to raise public awareness.
- Social Media Outreach: Informative campaigns
focusing on legal adoption and the importance of foster care.
Central
Adoption Resource Authority (CARA)
Establishment: Statutory body under the
Ministry of Women & Child Development.
Mandate:
- National authority for
in-country and inter-country adoptions.
- Ensures adherence to
ethical, legal, and child-centric adoption practices.
Compliance:
- India is a signatory to the Hague
Convention on Inter-country Adoption (1993) and ratified it in 2003.
- CARA aligns Indian adoption
practices with international standards.
Key
Roles:
- Coordinates with recognized
adoption agencies.
- Promotes awareness through
campaigns.
- Monitors post-adoption
processes to ensure child welfare.
CARINGS
Portal (Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System)
Launch
and Purpose:
- Introduced in 2011 to
streamline adoption procedures with transparency and accountability.
Version
3.2 Highlights:
Modules:
- In-country relative
adoptions.
- Foster care systems.
- Post-adoption follow-ups.
- Priority referrals for
special-needs children.
Features:
- Automated child-parent
matching.
- Real-time tracking of
adoption status.
- SMS/email notifications for
PAPs.
- Simplifies procedures,
ensuring faster and transparent adoptions.
Significance
of Adoption Awareness Month
- Builds a supportive
ecosystem for adoption through enhanced awareness and understanding.
- Encourages prospective
families to provide homes for vulnerable children, particularly older
children and those with special needs.
- Promotes the idea that every
child deserves love, care, and a family environment.