Question : Children Returned by Adoptive Parents

(a) whether large number of children adopted across the country have been returned to Child Care Institution (CCI) by their adoptive parents;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the number of such children returned to CCI during the last three years;
(c) whether the prevailing adoption procedure lacks the provision of support system for adoptive parents and children and if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government to build social infrastructure at the ground level;
(d) whether Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) has conducted any study to prevent such incidents, if so, the details of the preventive steps taken thereunder; and
(e) the other measures taken by the Government to prevent the declining trend in child adoption in the country and to make adoption process more transparent and accessible?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) to (e): As per the Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS), an Online Portal of Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), out of total 9860 In-country Adoptions in the last three years, 174 cases of disruption and 05 cases of dissolution have been reported.
The details are as follows :

Year No. of In-country Adoptions No. of Disruption cases reported No. of Dissolution cases reported
2016-17 3210 59 0
2017-18 3276 60 4
2018-19 3374 55 1
Total 9860 174 5

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016 and Adoption Regulations, 2017 mandate necessary support to be extended to adoptive parents and children. Functions of the State Adoption Resource Agencies (SARAs), District Child Protection Units (DCPUs) and Specialised Adoption Agencies (SAAs) have been enumerated at Regulations 33, 34 and 29 respectively.

The adoption process is conducted through online platform i.e. CARINGS (Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System). The disruption/ dissolution is mainly observed in cases of placement of older children primarily due to the adjustment issues of the child with the family. Emphasis is being given for the counselling of parents adopting older children and the older children being placed in adoption. Regular awareness programme and training for capacity building of various stakeholders are also organised from time to time to facilitate the adoption process.

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