Slide # 8

Reform Shishu Greh Scheme.

If you’re one of those who do not know what Shishu Greh is, allow me to explain it for you. Shishu means a child and Greh mean a house. So it stands for Children’s Home. Shishu Greh can be started by anyone but they depend on public funding for its operations. Funding requires that Shishu Greh must not be doing inter-country adoptions but only domestic adoptions.

According to CARA, average number of domestic adoptions done either by a Recognized Indian placement agency (RIPA) or Shishur Greh is 1.5 adoptions per month. If an average for a Shishu Greh could be 1.5 per month that means there could be some Shishu Greh’s doing no domestic adoptions at all in some months. What is the disincentive for such a Shishu Greh? What is the incentive for those that are doing more domestic adoptions? As far as I see it – None.

Funding pattern for Shishu Greh is as follows: They can receive six lakhs (6,00,000) of rupees for a unit of ten children up to the age of six years. My question is why only up to six years? This provision creates a danger of nexus being built between RIPA’s (RIPA's can place children in inter-country adoption) and Shishu Greh’s where older children (above six years) can be sent from Shishu Greh to RIPA for a placement in inter-country adoption.

So the question arises, do we really need Shishu Grehs? Absolutely. We need them with the reformed model of functioning. I suggest that the Shishu Greh’s be reimbursed for qualitative and quantitative work on sliding scale format. For example, Shishu Greh get’s the highest amount of reimbursement per child for placing them within six months of child’s arrival and the amount decrease for every six months of waiting. For every 10 children that are placed in domestic adoptions also Shishu Greh’s receive an incentive.

This method makes the Shishu Greh's work hard to find homes for children and you cannot ask for anything better than that.

Ruby Nakka