Govt of Bihar and UNICEF join forces with Delhi Govt and Udayan Care to expedite child protection mechanisms

The Govt. of Bihar is totally committed to strengthening its child protection mechanisms and towards this, it is open to learning the good practices in other states. A delegation of nine child protection functionaries that include members of the Child Welfare Committee, District Child Protection Unit, State Child Protection Society, Social Welfare Department and Child Protection Officer from UNICEF Bihar visited Delhi over a period of 3 days (18-21 May 2022).

Udayan Care had facilitated this learning visit and delegates were given exposure to the UdayanGhar unique model of child andyouth care with aftercare being totally integrated into its design and implementation. Delegates also visited the aftercare homes for boys and girls, being managed by the Govt of Delhi and had an interaction with the officers of the Delhi Govt’s state Child Protection Society.

The delegates also met with institutes such as Aurobindo Ashram and GMR institutes which provide skilling and employability opportunities to youth.

Voicing her concerns on this occasion, Ms.Gargi Saha, Child Protection Officer, UNICEF Bihar said, “Through this combination of approaches and activities, especially including children and youth in their own pathway planning, we have already begun to see behavioural and procedural changes towards creating relationships where youth feel more at ease to express their problems openly to the concerned officers. Through these efforts, we anticipate that the initiative will benefit youth leaving care at a larger scale, specifically, we hope that the scope of transition planning and training the youth leaving care shall be taken up nationally, as it is prescribed in the laws.The govt of Bihar has declared year 2021-22 as the year dedicated for family based alternative care and aftercare. As UNICEF Bihar we are happy and fortunate to support this initiative and to facilitate.

This visit will lead to replicating some of the good practices of the govt of Delhi. This has also been an excellent opportunity for the Bihar delegation to share the good work being undertaken in the state of Bihar for the most marginalized section of children and young person”.

Aftercare is a critical yet unaddressed area of child protection in India. This is evident from the findings of the “Beyond 18” research study that was conducted by Udayan Care in 2019. There is enough evidence globally and nationally that children growing up in care institutions are not adequately prepared to leave care and are not ready for independent living. Their transition planning and training, during their last years in the Child Care Instituions (CCIs), is often lacking due to the lack of knowledge of the provisions in the existing juvenile laws as well as skills in addressing transition requirements of youth leaving care among child protection functionaries . Often children are turned away on turning 18 without guidance and support or continue to extend their stay in such institutions without any rehabilitation plan. Children nearing adulthood have expressed their feelings by saying, “I felt like a plant being uprooted” to “it’s my life but for social workers it’s just their job”.

Elaborating about the strengthening of this program, Mr Alok Ranjan, Assistant Director, Social Welfare Department, Bihar said, “It was a very beneficial, learning and sharing exposure visit of Officers from government run ChildCare Institutions, District Child Protection Units, Child Welfare Committee, Sate Child Protection Society and Social Welfare Department, Bihar with officers of WCD, Delhi. We are thankful of UNICEF Bihar and Udayan Care for providing this oppertunity. Every minute of the exposure visit has been well spent. Visited Government and Udayan Care run CCIs and Aftercare initiatives, interacted with CSOs which are working on Aftercare program in Delhi and had sharing of best practices with WCD, CWCs and DCPUs officials. We were exposed to corporate and private institution’s run vocational training program which will be very good for our youths and children, staying in institutional care”

Udayan Care has been working to change the way we care for our children and ensure that they receive continued support and their transition from childcare institutions to independent living is smooth and such young person, also known as care leavers, feel they have a strong ecosystem around them till they get reintegrated as contributing citizens of society. Towards this, it is being supported by UNICEF to work closely in partnership with the Government of Bihar to improve the Aftercare work in the state.

Thanking the Govts of Bihar, Delhi and UNICEF for this initiative, Dr.Kiran Modi, Founder and ManagingTrustee, Udayan Care said,  “ It was a good cross learning initiative. I appreciate the candid sharing by Delhi Government Officialsabout the pathbreaking work of the Bihar Government namely Child Protection MangementInformation System (CPMIS) and Home Management Information System (HMIS) that is beinglooked at and raplicated in the NCT of Delhi”.

Since 2019, several child protection functionaries have been trained ontransition planning and aftercare and have enhanced their skills on rehabilitation of such youth. ICPs(individual care plans), assessments of disability, mapping the competencies, skills, interests ofchildren and youth and life skills workshops have been imparted in two districts, Patna and Gaya.

Stitching centres have been opened in the CCIs in Patna and Gaya to provide skilling to children and they have been engaged in learning several arts and crafts that enhance their skills. Partnerships with Upendra MaharathiAnusandhanSansthan (UMAS) institute and Lemon Tree Hotel in Patna have led to young persons being placed for jobs.

Talking about Udayan Care initiatives, Ms Ranjana Srivastava, Project Lead, Alternative Care and Aftercare, said, “The exposure visit was an experiential learning for Bihar Officials. They appreciated best practicesof UdayanGhar initiative of family based care at the institution level. It was an all round learning forofficials of both Delhi and Bihar where they shared their achievements and learning”

It is hoped that this interaction will be mutually beneficial for officers of both states and will reinforce their conviction to work with children and youth in more non-institutional approaches.