MALAPPURAM: When Anwar (name changed) lost his father, a migrant worker, in 2021, he was left vulnerable and without parental care. His mother had abandoned him years earlier. Faced with an uncertain future, the boy from Tamil Nadu was brought under the care of the Malappuram Child Welfare Committee and Mission Vatsalya. What followed changed his life.
Under Kerala’s foster-care programme, Anwar was placed with a family in Ponnani. The arrangement gave way to a deep familial bond. Over the next few years, the family cared for him as their own, providing him with stability, affection and a sense of belonging.
Just before he turned 18, that relationship became permanent. Anwar was legally adopted by the same family, giving him lawful parents and a secure future. His story stands as a powerful example of how Kerala’s foster-care system is helping vulnerable children find not just care, but a family.
Child-welfare officials say foster care serves as an important bridge between institutional care and adoption. Unlike direct adoption, foster care allows children and families to live together for an extended period before making a lifelong commitment.
Under current guidelines, children are generally placed with foster families for a minimum of two years. This period enables both the child and the family to understand each other, build emotional bonds and decide whether they can live together harmoniously in the long term.
The arrangement also protects the interests of both parties. If either the child or the foster family finds the placement unsuitable, it can be discontinued without proceeding to adoption. According to officials, this gradual process often results in stronger and more stable family relationships because the decision to adopt is based on years of shared experience rather than brief interactions.
“A child usually comes under the care of the child welfare committee after being abandoned, surrendered or orphaned. Under the Juvenile Justice Act, every child has the right to grow up in a family or family-like environment. Institutionalisation is the last resort,” said Krishnamurthy K, programme manager of the State Child Protection Society.
He explained that children who are legally free for adoption are placed in the adoption pool and matched with eligible families. However, many children who require care are not legally orphaned. “There are cases where children still have surviving relatives but those relatives are unable to provide adequate care because of financial, social or other difficulties. Such children are placed in foster care,” he said.
According to Krishnamurthy, foster care can eventually lead to adoption if the child’s legal status changes. “If the child later becomes legally free for adoption, or if the surviving relatives surrender the child for adoption, the foster family can legally adopt the child. Earlier, the Model Foster Care Guidelines prescribed a five-year cooling-off period before a foster family could adopt a child. The revised 2024 guidelines reduced this period to two years,” he said.
The process includes thorough scrutiny of prospective foster families. Similar to adoption procedures, authorities assess the family’s background, financial stability and capacity to raise a child before granting approval.
Under Union ministry of women and child development, foster care was started in Kerala in 2015. Currently it has 265 active foster-care homes under its child-protection system. So far, 29 children have gone on to be adopted by their foster families.
GUIDELINES
1. Under current guidelines, children are generally placed with foster families for a minimum of two years
2. This period enables both the child and the family to understand each other, build emotional bonds and decide whether they can live together harmoniously in the long term
3. If either the child or the foster family finds the placement unsuitable, it can be discontinued without proceeding to adoption