Family strengthening approach towards ensuring reintegration of children restored back to their families from institutionalised care settings in India

Modi, Kiran and Kalra, Gurneet Kaur (2024) Family strengthening approach towards ensuring reintegration of children restored back to their families from institutionalised care settings in India. Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care, 23 (1). pp. 45-62. ISSN 1478-1840

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Abstract

India has well defined juvenile justice laws and policies which lay the overall framework to protect the rights of children, where institutionalisation is meant to be the last resort for children without parental care. Structured and systematic interventions are required to strengthen the families, empowering them to effectively nurture and care for their children. This paper analyses a family-strengthening project, Families Together (FiT), an initiative of Udayan Care, an NGO headquartered in Delhi during Covid-19. It underscores the relevance of family strengthening approaches, by using a child-centric approach to safeguarding the best interests of children. The project follows a 3R framework, namely reach, reinforce, and reintegrate, and works along the lines of a circle of care approach, to strengthen families for retaining their children. Circle of care addresses eight different but inter-connected domains; namely livelihood, education and skilling, housing, physical health, psychosocial wellbeing, protection and safeguarding, social relationships, awareness, and access to legal entitlements. Through appropriate and systematic interventions, FiT ensures smooth reintegration of restored children into their families. In addition, by closely working with children and their families, the project also acts as a gatekeeping mechanism to prevent the possibility of re-separation.

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https://doi.org/10.17868/strath.00088890
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