The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (as amended in 2021) is the primary law for children in conflict with law and those in need of care and protection. Under the Act, a child is defined as a person who has not completed eighteen years of age. The Act has repealed the earlier Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000. The responsibility of implementation of the Act lies with the State Governments and UT Administrations.

Section 53 of the Act provides an extensive list of rehabilitation and re-integration services to be provided to children in institutional care. These include: education, health, nutrition, de-addiction, treatment of diseases, vocational training, skill development, life skill education, mental health interventions, counselling, referral services, recreational activities, etc.

The Act provides for establishment of various Child Care Institutions (CCIs) for children in conflict with law including Observation Homes, Special Homes and Place of Safety. Homes are also provided for children in need of care and protection such as Children’s Home, Open Shelter and Specialise Adoption Agency.

Various non-institutional mechanisms are as under :

“Adoption” means the process through which the adopted child is permanently separated from his biological parents and becomes the lawful child of his adoptive parents with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities that are attached to a biological child.

“Foster Care” including group foster care is also included as non-institutional care for placing children in a family environment which is other than child’s biological family, which is to be selected, qualified, approved and supervised for providing care to children.

“Sponsorship” as a provision of supplementary support, financial or otherwise, to the families to meet the medical, educational and developmental needs of the child.

“After Care” is a provision to ensure that any child leaving a child care institution on completion of eighteen years of age may be provided with financial support in order to facilitate child’s re-integration into the mainstream of the society in the manner as may be prescribed.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2021 has been notified on 09.08.2021 and made effective on 01.09.2022.

The salient features of the amendment are as follows:

i. Empower District Magistrate including Additional District Magistrate to effectively coordinate and monitor the functions of the agencies responsible for implementation of JJ Act, 2015
ii. Empower District Magistrate including Additional District Magistrate to decide the cases of adoption under the provisions of the Act.
iii. Introduces eligibility conditions for appointment of the members of Child Welfare Committee. Since Child Welfare Committee is vested with the powers of first class Magistrate, it is imperative to ensure the eligibility conditions are met by the incumbent.
iv. Categorization of Offenses for the purpose of dealing with Children in Conflict with Law - Provision has been added to the effect that offenses where the maximum sentence is more than 7 years imprisonment but no minimum sentence has been prescribed or minimum sentence of less than 7 years is provided, shall be treated as serious offenses within this Act.
v. Several difficulties faced in interpretation and implementation of various provisions of the Act have also been addressed.

As per the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (as amended in 2021) for children in conflict with law (CCL) and children in need of care and protection (CNCP). The CNCP category includes orphan/destitute/neglected and children in difficult circumstances. As per Section 2 (14) (ii) of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act), a child who is found working in contravention of labour laws for the time being in force or is found begging, or living on the street is included as a “child in need of care and protection”, among others.

The definition of the expression “child in need of care and protection” under Section 2(14) of the JJ Act should not be interpreted as an exhaustive definition. The definition is illustrative and the benefits envisaged for children in need of care and protection should be extended to all such children in fact requiring State care and protection.”

“Child in conflict with law” means a child who is alleged or found to have committed an offence and who has not completed eighteen years of age on the date of commission of such offence;

The Mission Vatsalya scheme aims to contribute to the improvement in the wellbeing of children in difficult circumstances, as well as to the reduction of vulnerabilities to situations and actions that lead to abuse, neglect, exploitation, abandonment and separation of children from their families.

TARGET GROUP:

a. Children in need of care and protection [as listed in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection Act) 2000/2015]
b. Children in conflict with law (who alleged to/or have committed an offence)
c. Children in contact with law (who have come into contact with the law as a victim, witness or any other circumstance)
d. Any other vulnerable child (including but not limited to) – children of migrant families, children living on the streets, SCs/STs children, child beggars, exploited/trafficked/drug-affected children, children of prisoners, children of women in prostitution and children affected/infected with HIV/AIDS.

MAJOR COMPONENTS:

a. Institutional Services: Shelter Homes; Children’s Homes; Observation Homes; Special Homes; and Specialized services for children with special needs (physically and mentally challenged & children affected by HIV/AIDS)
b. Service delivery structures for the above services at State Child Protection Societies, State Adoption Resource Agencies) and District level (District Child Protection Units)
c. Statutory Support Services (Juvenile Justice Boards and Child Welfare Committees, State Juvenile Police Units)
d. Emergency outreach services for children in difficult circumstances through Childline
e. Open shelters for children in need in urban and semi-urban areas
f. Family based non-institutional care through: Sponsorship; Foster Care; Adoption; and After Care Programme
g. For need-based/innovative interventions
h. Child Tracking System including a website for missing children

CCIs for children in conflict with law:

i. Observation Homes- these are homes for temporary reception, care and rehabilitation of a child in conflict with law during the pendency of inquiry.

ii. Special Homes- these are homes for rehabilitation of children in conflict with law who are found to have committed an offence.

iii. Place of Safety (PoS)- means any place or institution, not being a police lockup or jail, established separately or attached to an observation home or a special home, as the case may be, the person in-charge of which is willing to receive and take care of the children alleged or found to be in conflict with law, by an order of the Board or the Children’s Court, both during inquiry and ongoing rehabilitation after having been found guilty for a period and purpose as specified in the order. PoS is to place a person above the age of eighteen years or child in conflict with law, who is between the age of sixteen to eighteen years and is accused of or convicted for committing a heinous offence.

CCIs for children in need of care and protection:

i. Children’s Home- these are homes for placement of children in need of care and protection and provide care, treatment, education, training, development and rehabilitation to such children.

ii. Open Shelter- these are community based facilities for children in need of residential support, on a short term basis with the objective of protecting them from abuse or keeping them away from a life on the streets.

iii. Specialized Adoption Agency-these are the agencies for the rehabilitation of orphan, abandoned or surrendered children, through adoption and non-institutional care.

Section 41 of the JJ Act, 2015 provides for mandatory registration of all institutions, within a period of six months from the date of commencement of the Act, whether run by State Government or run by voluntary organizations for children in need of care and protection or children in conflict with law. The initial validity of registration is for five years followed by renewal in every five years. Section 42 of the new JJ Act, 2015 stipulate for penal action for non-registration of Child Care Institutions with punishment which may extend to one year or a fine of Rs. one lakh or both.

Section 8(3)(j) of the Act mandates the JJB to conduct at least one inspection visit of residential facilities for children in conflict with law every month and recommend action for improvement in quality of services to the District Child Protection Unit and the State Government.

Section 30(viii) of the Act mandates the CWC to conduct at least two inspection visits of residential facilities for children in conflict with law or children in need of care and protection every month and recommend action for improvement in quality of services to the District Child Protection Unit and the State Government.

Section 54 of the Act provides for appointment of inspection committees by the State Government at the State and district level. The Inspection Committee is mandatorily required to visit and oversee the conditions in the institutions at least once in three months and submit the action taken report, findings and suggestions within a week of the inspection to District Child Protection Units or State Government. The Committee shall consist of minimum three members, with at least one woman and a medical officer.

As per Section 2 (14) (ix) of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act), a child who is found vulnerable and is likely to be inducted into drug abuse or trafficking is included as a child in need of care and protection.

Section 77 of the JJ Act provides that whoever gives, or causes to be given, to any child any intoxicating liquor or any narcotic drug or tobacco products or psychotropic substance, except on the order of a duly qualified medical practitioner, shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to a fine which may extend up to one lakh rupees.

Section 78 of the JJ Act provides that whoever uses a child, for vending, peddling, carrying, supplying or smuggling any intoxicating liquor, narcotic drug or psychotropic substance, shall be liable for rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to a fine up to one lakh rupees.

Section 53 of the JJ Act, 2015 provides for rehabilitation and re-integration of services for children in all CCIs. The Section also provides for setting up of Management Committee in every CCIs to manage the institution and monitor the progress of every child. The JJ Model Rules, provide for constitution of Management Committees in every institution for the management of the institution and monitoring the progress of every child. The Management Committees are required to set-up a complaint and redressal mechanism in every CCIs. A Suggestion Box for children is to be placed at a place easily accessible to children, away from the office set-up and close to the rooms or dormitories of children.

The Management Committee consists of following:

i. District Child Protection officer - Chairperson
ii. Person-in-charge – Member Secretary
iii. Probation Officer or Child Welfare Officer or Case Worker - Member
iv. Medical Officer - Member
v. Psychologist or Counsellor - Member
vi. Workshop Supervisor or Vocational Instructor - Member
vii. Teacher – Member
viii. Social Worker Member of JJB/ CWC – Member
ix. Two child representatives from each of the Children’s Committee - Members
x. Any other special invitee with the consent of the Chairperson.

In order to ensure effective service delivery, Mission Vatsalya scheme is being implemented by setting up State Child Protection Society (SCPS) and District Child Protection Units (DCPUs) as the fundamental units for implementation at State and District level respectively. The functions of SCPS and DCPU regarding training of stakeholders, research and documentation, Awareness Generation through IEC activities and Situational Analysis are as follows:

A. STATE CHILD PROTECTION SOCIETY (SCPS):

• Carrying out need-based research and documentation activities at state-level for assessing the number of children in difficult circumstances and creating State-specific databases to monitor trends and patterns.
• Maintaining a state level database of all children in institutional care and family based non-institutional care and update it on a quarterly basis.

B. DISTRICT CHILD PROTECTION UNIT (DCPU):

• Assess the number of children in difficult circumstances and create district-specific databases to monitor trends and patterns of children in difficult circumstances.
• Map all child related service providers and services at district for creating a resource directory.
• Maintain a database of all children in institutional care and non-institutional care at the district level.

C. The details of funds released for training of stakeholders, research and documentation, Awareness Generation through IEC activities and Situational Analysis.

Financial assistance is provided to the States/UTs under Mission Vatsalya Scheme for CCIs @Rs.3000/- per month per child as maintenance grant for providing food, clothing, medicine, soap, oil, supplementary education, and also @Rs.1000/- per year per child for bedding including mattress, bed sheets, pillow, blanket, dari/mats etc.

Mission Vatsalya scheme provides funds for construction of each CCI (Children Home/ Observation Home/ Special Home/ Place of Safety) @Rs.134.93 lakh for a capacity of 50 children, @Rs.77.15 lakh for a capacity of 25 children and Rs.558.25 lakh for construction of Vatsalya Sadan (Children Home/ Observation Home/ Special Home/ Place of Safety/ Child Welfare Committee/ Juvenile Justice Board).

Under Mission Vatsalya Scheme, Child Helpline is being run in coordination with State and District functionaries with integration with the Emergency Response Support System 112 (ERSS-112) Helpline of MHA. Ministry has entrusted Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Kerala which will act as a Total Solution Provider (TSP) for automation of Child Helpline -1098 and its integration with ERSS-112. Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) of Child Helpline has been issued by the Ministry. Child Helpline is 100% funded by the GoI. All the 36 States/UTs have started the implementation of Child Helpline.

a. A 24x7 dedicated WCD Control Room (WCD-CR) setup for Child Helpline in each State/UT and will be integrated with ERSS-112.

b. District level, Child Helpline (CHL) Unit at District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) is to be made available round the clock and shall be equipped with necessary facilities, manpower and software applications and dedicated connectivity to provide outreach service for children in crisis linking them to emergency and long-term care and rehabilitation services.

c. Child Help Desk/Kiosk/ Booth at the selected Railway Stations and existing Bus Stands.

Ministry has collaborated with NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences) which has established a National Initiative & Integrated Resource Centre for Child Protection, Mental Health, and Psychosocial Care named “SAMVAD” (Support Advocacy & Mental Health Interventions for Children in Vulnerable Circumstances And Distress) in NIMHANS, at Bangalore. SAMVAD is working in 4 key thematic areas, namely Mental Health, Care & Protection, Education and Policy & Law.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has partnered with Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) to develop an online training module for capacity building of multiple stakeholders for strengthening implementation of child rights with a special focus on the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (as amended in 2021) in India. The course is available through digital platforms such as “iGOT" platform, as part of ‘Mission Karmayogi’. The main objective of this endeavour is to spread awareness and sensitization to facilitate a process of reflection and action to scale up the implementation of the JJ Act, 2015 in India with quality and equity.