Regular family meetings, home visits and setting up fiscal support system
New Delhi: With scores of children left distressed by the brutal second wave of the Covid pandemic here, the Delhi government has overhauled its Standarding Operating Procedure to care for them, providing for a robust mechanism to monitor the child's well-being through contant home visits and mandatory reporting to authorities by the foster family of guardian family of the child in distress.
The new SOP for distressed children has given more focus on the importance of parents and guardians, roles of the Juvenile Justice Boards, District Child Protection Units (DCPUs) and Child Welfare Committee (CWCs).
The new directives require parents, foster parents, guardians to report the progress and details of the child's socio-economic-educational-medical status to the Board, Committee and the District Child Protection Unit, every quarter and whenever requested.
For a second level of checks to ensure care for these children, the DCPUs will also conduct monthly meetings preferably through a physical visit to the family home or through telephonic conversation or virtual conferencing with the family about the status and progress of the child and take remedial action.
In addition, home visits every one-two months have been written into the SOP to improve the overall well-being of the child.
And with a slew of financial support schemes announced by the State government and the Central government for these distressed children, especially those who have lost parents to the virus, the new SOP requires DCPUs to also facilitate the opening of a bank account for the concerned child or a joint account with a guardian or parent or foster parent so the state fiscal support for them is utilised.
The DCPUs have also been asked to maintain a panel of individuals and organisations willing to sponsor a child a or a group of children's education, medical care, skill development, stationery, educational gadgets (laptops, computer desktop, internet), boarding, transportation, tuition.
This list shall be shared with the committee and the board to facilitate direct linkages between sponsors, child and the committee or the board that need-based assistance can be provided to the child.
The CWCs and JJBs shall decide the question of sponsorship under these guidelines and where an application has been received within 21 days from the date of the receipt.
The new directives came after deliberations of a committee that included Rashmi Singh, Director, WCD department and Anurag Kundu, chairperson, Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR).
Meanwhile, funds allocated to DCPUs under the sponsorship and foster care fund from the scheme of 'Mission Vatsalya' (erstwhile Integrated Child Protection Scheme) having Central and State share as prescribed under the said scheme shall be used for payment of monthly sponsorship support.
