CHENNAI: The Directorate of Children Welfare and Special Services (DCWSS) will soon launch a pilot initiative to strengthen family-based alternative care services for children currently residing in Child Care Institutions (CCIs) across Tamil Nadu. To implement this, the directorate will partner with an NGO to reintegrate these children into safe and nurturing family environments.
The 12-month pilot project will include assessing children in care homes and preparing individual reintegration plans. It will also focus on skill development, stakeholder capacity building, policy advocacy, monitoring and evaluation and evidence-based research.
The initiative aims to support the expansion and long-term sustainability of family-based care models in the state. According to officials, over 22,000 children are currently housed in child protection homes run by the government and NGOs across Tamil Nadu. While a majority of them have families and are in institutional care only temporarily, a smaller proportion is without any family support.
“Our aim is to promote adoption and foster care for children without families. We also plan to support families whose children are currently in institutions, so they are not compelled to leave them in care homes. In the initial phase, we will focus on children who don’t have families,” an official said.
As part of the initiative, the partner NGO will be required to develop comprehensive guidelines to prepare children and families for reintegration, with a focus on age-appropriate skill development and vocational readiness. It will also draft a standard operating procedure (SOP) for reintegrating children into family and community settings, incorporating life skills, career guidance and support systems.
Both the guidelines and SOP will be aligned with national skill development frameworks, child protection laws, and international child rights standards, and will be submitted to the government for approval. In addition, the NGO will be responsible for developing systems to track reintegration progress, skill development outcomes, and long-term child well-being. It will analyse cases where reintegration fails and recommend strategy improvements. The organisation will also assess training needs among child protection officials, social workers and its own staff, to ensure effective implementation.
“In the last budget, the state government allocated Rs 120 crore to provide a monthly stipend of Rs 2,000 to children who have lost both parents and are being raised by relatives, to support their education until they turn 18. Our goal is to adopt a child-centric approach and ensure children receive family-based care, which is crucial for their healthy development,” said a senior official.
The brass tacks
Total number of childcare facilities in TN: 794
Govt-run facilities: 36 homes with around 1,500 children
NGO-run facilities: 758 homes with 21,000 children
Juvenile homes: 12 facilities with floating population