The Future of Foster Care and Child Protection in India and Sri Lanka

Abstract

India and Sri Lanka have a shared history, which has led to the longstanding use of institutional care of children. Children in institutions were often disabled, the victims of gender violence and their families lacked the necessary resources to provide care. This was true in the past and is today. There is a slow movement to end institutional care in India and Sri Lanka through the development of family-based alternative care (foster care). For this change, stakeholders needed to engage at all levels in changing policy and practice. Noteworthy is the legislative taken in India in the year 2015 to amend and revise its existing Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000. The new Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 included provisions on foster care under the chapter Reintegration and Rehabilitation. Sri Lanka took formal action in 2019 with the passage of The National Alternative Care Policy for Children in Sri Lanka. This act defines all forms of alternative care including foster care and kinship care. These legislative changes aligned with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) asserting a child’s rights framework. Collaboration, training and exchange of practices have been key to the development of foster care and will continue to help this monumental change process.