The Government of India clarified that children who are below six years are ineligible to be placed in foster care.
In an office memorandum issued last week, the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) pointed to Rule 23(3) of the Juvenile Justice Rules and point 4(1) of the Model Foster Care Guidelines, which states that only children aged six years and above are eligible for placement in foster care, under circumstances defined in Rule 44 of the Act.
CARA then noted that some agencies had raised issues regarding the interpretation of the regulations, prompting the clarification.
"Therefore, it is reiterated that no child who is less than six years of age shall be placed under Foster Care... Any deviation from this would be construed as a violation of said Rule and Model Foster Care Guidelines, 2024," the memorandum noted.
To make sure that there’s uniform compliance on the matter, the directive has been sent to all State Adoption Resource Agencies (SARAs), District Child Protection Units (DCPUs), and Specialised Adoption Agencies (SAAs).
For children who cannot be cared for by their biological parents but are not legally eligible for adoption, foster care is being offered as an alternative to traditional family-based care. According to official data, the number of children in non-institutional care, including sponsorship, foster care, and aftercare, has increased fourfold between 2021-22 and 2023-24.
In 2021-22, 29,331 children were covered by non-institutional care. The numbers witnessed a hike to 62,675 in 2022-23 and further to 1,21,861 in 2023-24.
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