Parents employ foster care option to jump long adoption queue

The long wait ahead of couples in India looking to adopt a child is leading many to look for shortcuts via foster care. The provision of foster care, a temporary stay with a registered family arranged for children up for adoption, was brought in with the implementation Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 almost a year and a half ago.Several parents have come forward to volunteer for foster care, which involves an application process, and requires the family to match certain parameters. As per section 41 of the JJ Act, a child who is fit for adoption, but is unable to find a family, can stay with a family willing to temporary adopt him or her. Additionally, the JJ Model Rules lays down rules for empanelling fit families for foster care.Yet, several families who choose to come forward for foster care, request the authorities for permanent adoptions after keeping the child for a few months, "Many say that they have forged a connection with the child, and that it is impossible for them to let go. It is difficult for us to take punitive action in these cases as there is a child involved on one end, and a family willing to take care, on the other," says Deepak Kumar, CEO at the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).Currently, Kumar informs, there are about 1,750 children up for adoption, with almost half of them with special needs. In comparison, there are over 12,000 applications pending from parents within the country, and over 600 from foreign nationals."Typically, there is a wait of three to four months. But the shortage has led to parents waiting for more than a year," says Kumar.The long wait has also led to several agencies dealing in unhealthy practices to ensure clients lay their hands on a child. The are 425 specialised agencies recognised by CARA, and over a thousand private ones.Malpractices have led to the blacklisting of three agencies in the last three months. While two are from Maharashtra (one from Jalgaon and Jalna each), a third is from Raigarh.In Raigarh, the modus operandi of the court officials involved in the malpractice would go to the court to obtain a guardianship order of the foster child up for adoption, and approach the child welfare committee.In Jalna and Jalgaon, on the other hand, pimps would approach parents in a long wait for a child, charge them anywhere between Rs 2 to 3 lakh. Pimps would routinely procure babies from hospitals, or would manage to involve local adoption agencies to help their clients jump the queue and procure a baby.In fact, it was when a client wrote to the minister of women development about his misery after a pimp he paid Rs 3 lakh had absconded that the lid in the scam blew off. "The man approached the minister knowing fully well that as per section 81 of the JJ Act, even he will be liable for punishment for the buying or selling of a child," said Kumar.