Integrated child Protection Scheme ICPS-An opportunity to ensure Family based care practices

1. Integrated child Protection Scheme (ICPS)-An opportunity to ensure  Family based care practices Lina Kashyap

2. It is the human right of every child and young person to live in a supportive, protective and caring environment that promotes his/her full potential. The family is one of the basic systems of society and the natural environment for the growth, well-being and protection of children. A child right to a family

3. Around 170 million or 40 percent of India’s children are vulnerable to or experiencing difficult circumstances resulting in inadequate or no parental care and are at special risk of being denied such a nurturing environment. Low level of fund allocation for child protection. Major shortcomings and gaps in existing child protection institutions, policies, programs and schemes and their implementation at all levels. The current scenario

4. In early 2006, the Department of Women and Child Development became a full-fledged Ministry and all child protection matters were transferred to this new Ministry. This new Ministry is committed to creating a solid foundation for ensuring a protective environment for children, especially those in vulnerable situations and therefore in need of care and protection. As a step in this direction, MWCD has formulated The Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICDS). Establishment of the MWCD

5. The ICPS is expected to create a structure and framework that will efficiently and effectively protect children specially those in difficult situations. Provide appropriate support services to their families for building their capacities to care, protect and provide a nurturing environment to their children. The Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS)

6. The ICPS is a multifaceted scheme aimed at benefiting diverse groups of children specially those in difficult situations through several distinct components. It plans to establish and strengthen a continuum of services for emergency outreach, institutional care, family and community based care, counselling and support services for vulnerable children and their families. The Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS)

7. The ICPS proposes a shift in the focus of interventions: Reduce over reliance on institutionalization of children. Institutionalization to be the last resort after all other options have been explored. Promote and strengthen non-institutional family based care options for children, including sponsorship to vulnerable children and their families, foster family care including kinship foster care, in-country adoption and inter-country adoption. Prevent separation of child from family through an outreach programme which would identify and support vulnerable families and build their capacity to care for their children. Paradigm Shift in ideology and focus

8. To put in place and institutionalize a continuum of services for emergency outreach, institutional care, family and community based care, counselling and support services . To strengthen structures and mechanisms for effective implementation of the scheme at the national, regional, state and district levels.  To build capacities of all functionaries including, administrators and service providers, at all levels working under the ICPS. To sensitize and train members of allied systems including, local bodies, police, judiciary and other concerned departments of State Governments to undertake responsibilities under the ICPS.  To build capacities of families and community to strengthen care, protection and response to children and to create and promote preventive measures to protect children from situations of vulnerability, risk and abuse. To create mechanisms for a child protection data management system including MIS and child tracking system in the country for effective implementation and monitoring of child protection services. To undertake research and documentation.   Specific Objectives

9. Prevention: Through an outreach programme, the scheme would identify and support vulnerable Families. Promotion of Family-based Care: The scheme would pursue a conscious shift to family-based care including sponsorship, kinship care, foster care and adoption. Periodic review of children in institutional care for restoration to families would also be undertaken. Child centered planning and implementation at all levels, so as to ensure that the best interest of the child is protected. Continuum of services- a feasible care plan for each child: The services under the scheme will be provided on the basis of an individual care plan, established through professional assessment. The care plan will be periodically reviewed and accordingly adjusted. Building Capacities: In order to ensure professional child protection services at all levels, the scheme would undertake regular training and capacity building of all service providers and functionaries to equip and enhance their skills, sensitivities, knowledge on child rights and standards of care and protection. The Approach

10. Currently, family based alternate care services are offered by NGOs with or without grant from the Central or state Governments. Hence there is uneven distribution of services across the country. Most of the services are running in urban areas and rural areas are hardly served. In order to ensure effective and even distribution of services across the country, the ICPS will be implemented in Mission Mode. State and District Child Protection Societies as the fundamental units will be set up at State and District levels for the implementation of the scheme. State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA) shall function as a unit under the State Child Protection Society. These Societies will be registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and would function under the overall supervision and control of the State Governments/UT Administrations.   Scope and reach under ICPS

11. State Child Protection Committee (SCPC): Every State/UT shall have a State Child Protection Committee (SCPC) under the Chairpersonship of the State Secretary dealing with ICPS to monitor the implementation. State Adoption Advisory Committee at State/UT level: Will promote, implement, supervise and monitor the family based non-institutional programmes including sponsorship, foster care in-country and inter-country adoption at State level. Infrastructure of ICPS at State level

12. District Child Protection Committee (DCPC): Under the Chairpersonship of the Zila Parishad & District Magistrate/Collector will monitor the implementation of the ICPS. Sponsorship and Foster Care Approval Committee (SFCAC): Will review and sanction sponsorship and foster care fund. Infrastructure of ICPS at District level

13. Many children are at risk of abandonment, exploitation, neglect and destitution because of poor socio-economic conditions of their families. Though poverty in itself is not a determining factor, it often contributes to stresses on the family which in turn increases a child’s vulnerability to being separated from his/her family. Many children from such families have both never been to school or have been made to drop out of school and put to work. Such children are most vulnerable to trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, bonded labor or other exploitative labor. Poor families often place their children into institutional care as a poverty coping measure. Child development specialists have recognized for decades that institutional care has generally failed to meet many of children's developmental needs, such as those for attachment, social integration, and acculturation. Institutionalization of children should therefore be the last resort. Family-based sponsorship service is one of the better options for preventing children from being separated from their families due to stressful economic conditions. Need for Family Based Sponsorship service 

14. It is an economically – facilitating mechanism beneficial for children which prevents their institutionalization and enables them to continue to remain in their own biological families. Besides financial support, it gives psychosocial support to disadvantaged and vulnerable families to enable them to provide the caring and nurture to their own children for their holistic growth and development.   It can also serve as a means for institutionalized children to be restored or re-united with their families. It also provides conditional assistance to enable children who were at risk from being removed from school and sent for work, to continue their education.  The kind of sponsorship support given to the children depends on their specific needs, e.g. giving educational materials, transport support to commute to and from school, school fees, school admission, tuition fees, counseling support etc.  In addition to this, the family members are linked up with various Government Schemes for which the family is eligible. This is done to ensure the family’s access to sustainable income sources which in turn ensure that children do not face crisis in the family which may necessitates the child being separated from his/her family.   What is Family Based Sponsorship?

15. Adequately trained, sensitive and committed professionals are the key to the successful implementation of this scheme. NIPCCD, along with its regional centers, has been entrusted with the responsibility of training, capacity building and research and documentation on child protection. However, the Ministry of WCD accepts that at present the NIPCCD and its regional centre do not have the manpower or the capacity to carryout this responsibility. ICPS will need an army of professionals trained in the child rights framework and ideology as well as in family and community centred interventions. Assessment of the needs of vulnerable children and their families as well as individual case planning and placement in kinship foster family care , adoption and sponsorship services, as well as reintegration of institutionalized children with their families requires specialized skills. Adequate training and capacity building of professionals at central, state and district levels is vital to the success of the scheme. Training and capacitybuilding of Professionals