Revised guidelines for adoption of children issued by CARA

New Delhi: Union Women and Child Development Ministry has notified revised guidelines for governing adoption of children issued by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) that would replace the 2011 Adoption Guidelines.

"The revised guidelines have been framed keeping in mind the issues and challenges faced by CARA, Adoption Agencies and Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs) and are intended to provide for more effective regulation for adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children and would bring more transparency and efficiency in the adoption system," an official statement from the ministry said.

With the new guidelines, it would become possible for PAPs to track the status of their application making the entire system more user friendly.

Accordingly, Central Adoption Resource Information Guidance System (CARINGS), as an e-governance measure created for the purpose of facilitating adoption of children, has been revamped.

"CARINGS will facilitate the adoption of maximum number of adoptable children and ensure a smoother adoption process by curbing undue delays," the statement said.

CARINGS will contain a centralized data bank of adoptable children and PAPs. Clear cut timelines for domestic and inter-country adoption have been laid down to ensure early deinstitutionalization of such children.

"All District Child Protection Units (DCPUs) will be connected online to CARINGS. They will be responsible for making newspaper publications of abandoned children and the expenditure, if required, could be incurred under Integrated Child Protection Units Fund. One DCPU member will also be part of the Adoption Committee," it said.

The features of the guidelines governing adoption of Children include option for PAPs to select an adoption agency of their choice for conducting Home Study Report (HSR) and preferred State.

According to the new guidelines, The HSR of PAPs can be prepared by State Adoption Resource Agency/DCPU empanelled social worker, Seniority of PAPs would be maintained from the date of registration.

The maximum combined age for married couple has been increased from 105 years to 110 years to encourage adoption of older children.

It also prescribes adoption expenses for different category of PAPs. Authorised Foreign Adoption Agency (AFAA) would have a provision of renewal after a period of five years and allows all adoptions (in-country or inter-country) to proceed on CARINGS while adoption outside CARINGS is strictly prohibited.