A two-Day National level consultation on Foster Care was organized in collaboration with BREADS, Bengaluru, UNICEF and DWCD, Karnataka, at Don Bosco Provincial House, Milton Street, Bengaluru, on October 14 and 15, 2019. Speaking at the concluding programme, Ms. Shailaja, Programme Director, ICPS, Bengaluru assured that suggestions and deliberations emerging from the consultation would be considered while formulating Guidelines on Foster Care for Karnataka State. Fr. George PS, SDB, former Executive Director, BOSCO Bengaluru said, “Let us join hands in providing family care to children in need of care and protection.” Fr. Prasad SDB, Director, CHIDLINE, BOSCO Bengaluru presented the highlights of the two-day programme.
Day one
Commencing the first session of the day, Mr. Sonykutty George, Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF, said “It is ten years since the Guidelines on Alternative Care of children was adopted by the UN, ten years since the implementation of the ICPS programme of the Government of India and thirty years have passed since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Hence, this is the appropriate and opportune time to hold a National Consultation on Foster Care.”
‘Alternative Care- Challenges and possibilities in India’, Ms. Vandhana Kandhari, UNICEF, Delhi and Ms. Neha Naidu, Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF, Orissa elaborated on ‘Alternative Care- Challenges and possibilities in India.’ Foster parents and children under foster care, Mr. Sayed Aslam, Syed Ayub, Pradeep and Mr. Balraj and Ms. Mariamma, SOS mother, shared their experiences.
Ms. Arlene Manoharan, Child Protection Specialist, Bengaluru enlightened the gathering on the ‘Formulation of Guidelines for Foster Care in Karnataka in the post-lunch session. Fr. PD Thomas, Mr. Arun Kumar Pradhan, Mr. Hemanth Kumar Das, Ms. Ravinder Kaur, Fr. Mathew Thomas, Dr. Shilpa Mehta, Ms. Laxmi Nair and Fr. Koshy Thomas shared Foster Care experiences from the different states of India.
Day Two
The second day of the Consultation began with a theatre presentation on Foster Care by children from BOSCO Vatsalya Bhavan and BOSCO Mane. The participants interacted with the children after the presentation. Ms. Karen Paul, Head, Training and Development, Child healing Centre, Bengaluru spoke on ‘Understanding Trauma of children who could be placed in foster care.’ Ms. Sindhu Naik, Member in charge of Adoption Scrutiny, KSCCW, Bengaluru presented the ‘Challenges in Successful Foster Care placement- Learnings from Adoption Disruption’.
Ms. Usha Kiran KT, Development consultant NIMHANS, presented the Psycho-Social Issues in Children in the context of Foster Care. Fr. Varghese Pallipuram SDB, Director, Foster Care, BOSCO Bengaluru, elaborated the ‘Social reintegration challenges in foster care’. The children need to well-integrated in to the society and that is one of the major aims of foster care. Ms. Nina Nayak, Former Chairperson, KSCPCR enumerated the financial challenges in the implementation of the Foster Care programme. She opined that one needs to speak to the civil society regarding the responsibility of providing care to children. Mr. Rakesh Singh IAS, Principal Secretary, DWCD Karnataka said that proactive efforts would be taken to formulate the Guidelines on Foster Care in a timely and efficient manner.
The post lunch session consisted of group discussion and brainstorming on the implementation of Foster Care. The inputs, suggestions, recommendations and action plans are included in the plan for the way forward. Fr. Mathew Thomas, Executive Director, BOSCO Bengaluru welcomed the gathering and Sheena John Proposed the vote of thanks. Over 50 NGO Foster Care Practitioners from across the country and social activists participated in the programme.