Why the wait to adopt a child could get longer

The wait for adopting a child could get longer with more than 29,000 prospective parents registered with Central Adoption

Resources Authority (Cara) and just 2,317 children available for adoption, according to latest data.

Among the orphan children, 1,401 are with special needs. There are just 89 normal children below 2 years, the most sought

after age group for adoption while there are 649 normal children who are over two years. There are 178 children in the

‘siblings’ category. As per rules, siblings have to be adopted together by the prospective parents.

These figures have been collated by voluntary organisation, Families of Joy, based on government data available on Cara

website. The data reflect a worrisome trend about a wide and consistently growing gap between the number of prospective

parents and children available for adoption.

With the number of prospective parents rising to over 25,000 over the years from around 5,000 earlier and the number of

children being adopted hovering at around 4,000 every year on an average, Cara has started a process to review the adoption

system to address the gaps. In 2018-19, 3,374 in-country adoptions were recorded while the number of inter-country adoption

was 653.

Cara is focussing on simplifying procedures, expediting the process for declaring a child free for adoption, ensuring that no

child is given away in adoption outside the legal system, and bridge the gap between the Juvenile Justice Act 2015 and Hindu

Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA), 1956. The government is also exploring amendments in the JJ Act to simplify the

process.

After consultations with stakeholders on January 14, Cara has invited suggestions and feedback till April 3 from stakeholders,

including prospective parents, specialised adoption agencies, child welfare committees, state adoption resource agencies and

the public.

“Once all suggestions come in, we will study and see what changes can be done by way of notifications and refer those that

will require legislative changes to the WCD ministry,” said Cara CEO Deepak Kumar.

Cara faces a big challenge in HAMA. Kumar explained that the JJ Act is a child-centric law and introduces intensive checks and

balances to ensure that adoption is safe as prospective parents have to register with the adoption agency and the process is monitored.

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