4 alternatives to banning of current inter-country adoptions

Recently Supreme Court of India had asked the Government of India why inter-country adoptions cannot be banned in response to a petition filed by an NGO.  Obviously, the petitioner had seen somethings that he/ she feels that only banning inter-country adoption is a viable solution, or is it??

Take a peak at what you can do for the upcoming 'Children's Day'!!

In India, November 14th is observed as the 'Children's Day' and as far as I remember as a little boy we used to participate in some fun competitions like debate and elocution etc. I personally think that 'Children's Day' is not just meant for the children but for everyone to remember our children and their issues.

Although India has come a long way, there are lot of issues out there for children that still needs attention. One issues that I seriously think needs attention is 'Child Abuse'. In 2007, Ministry of Women & Child Development study revealed that little over 60% of Indian children are subjected to abuse of some kind or the other including sexual abuse committed by the members known to them (family and relative).

So I want to do something. How about wearing a T-Shirt that conveys something against Child Abuse to people around you? I designed a T-shirt that you can make it for yourself and wear it on that day. There are T-Shirt making kits (for graphics printing) available in the market to make yourself a very fancy one or you can simply use some markers to write the words and wear it. This is such a small thing but I can assure you that you'll be conveying a very powerful message to those around you.

Below is the design of a T-Shirt. Feel free to write your own words as you like but the bottomline is to stand for something and convey it. Click on the image to enlarge it.

An open challenge to Software developers

In the past three weeks, I had witnessed something that I never thought I would. As a member of a ‘Child Welfare Committee’ of Vellore district I was able to single handedly locate the families of three missing/ lost boys and restore them to their homes. Contrary to many may believe, it costs me very little except for my time to search for information on the net and making few phone calls.

As satisfying as it is to see the children being restored, as a father of two little girls, my heart still goes out to every child who goes missing/ lost somewhere in this country. Considering the numbers, it appears that this menace needs to be addressed on a war footing but it cannot be done by just a few people that are being appointed to do the work but I feel that it must democratized, decentralized and empowering enough for every one of us to do our bit.

My solution for the above is to use the ‘TECHNOLOGY’. This is what I have in mind. Mobile tele-density in India is about 60% and it is expected to rise to the significant levels in just a few years. Come end of this year, 3G technology is about to be unveiled by the private telephone operators in India. If every missing/ lost child’s information is passed around (in the geography of reference) through the mobile phone (by SMS or MMS) after such information is uploaded to the ‘Childline’ web site, I feel absolutely confident that missing/ lost children menace can be addressed effectively.

I am looking for a group of smart software developers who are willing to write software for such a program. Hopefully once it is tested successfully, it will be submitted to the government of India to implement it across the country. As it is a private initiative for now to do it in the best interest of our nation, developers must be willing to do it for no compensation. Even college level computer science students are welcome to undertake this challenge as a project.

If you’re interested or if you know of someone that would be interested to know more about this challenge, please do drop me a line (at rubynakka@hotmail.com) and I would be more than happy to get in touch with you/ them. I am looking at November 14th (Children’s Day in India) as the possible date to have something so come on by and join in.

If you have web site/ blog/ twitter account / facebook account / email account, feel free to post this information to spread the word around.

It is the love of the Mother

Exactly a month ago – 24th of August, I was in Guwahati on an assignment for the Government of India. Here in Vellore, we have been hosting a 14 year old boy (Sanidas) who was rescued by railway protection force who belongs to the state of "Assam" for the past seven months. He is from a place called "Lumding Junction" which is three hours east of Guwahati. We requested for police escort but it never came.

Since I was going so far to Guwahati I thought that I might as well take the child with me and drop him off with the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) there for them to restore him back to his family. Unfortunately I couldn’t get train reservation so I abandoned that idea and planned an alternative.

I took the information (child’s photo, a letter from him and all the details to pin point his house etc) with me and thought to seek the help of the office that I am going to be at. When I presented the details, child’s family was tracked in two hours time.

I was told that the family is on their way to meet me but by the time they came I had to leave to catch the flight but I left all the details for them to get in touch with me and the children’s home so that they can come and take the child home. I also wrote a list of documents that they can possibly bring to identify her son. As soon as I reached, first thing I did was to communicate with Sanidas that his family is been located and they’ll be here to take him home soon. He was ecstatic.

Soon I got a call from the family requesting me to send him to Assam with an escort because they are very poor. I wasn’t very happy with that request so I admonished the family telling them that if only we could send him, we wouldn’t have kept him for seven months and we wouldn’t be able to send the boy to Assam in any other way. I also encouraged the family to stay in touch with Sanidas so often mother used to call him reassuring him that she’ll be in Vellore soon to take him home.

On the 20th of September she arrived at 1:30 PM by a train after travelling for 72 hours, looking tired but excited to see her only child after 7 months. We never saw each other before so it took a little bit of creativity and guess work to identify each other at the railway station before we were on our way to the children’s home. After we reached the home, I handed her over to the Superintendent who’ll do the verification before handing over the child to her. As I was leaving, I told her to call me if she needs anything and I left.

(Click on the image to read the Indian Express Article)

At about 6:00 PM I got a call and Sanidas was on the other end. He told me that they are at the railway station and he wanted to see me. I knew then that they are reunited and they are on their way home. I rushed to the station and as soon as Sanidas saw me, he came running and gave me a big hug and told me “Thank you for reuniting me with my Mom”. Mother was full of joy in spite of knowing that she has another long 72 hour journey ahead of her.

After 72 hours, I called to find out that they’ve reached home safely. I knew then that my work with Sanidas is complete.

Unforgettable family reunion

On April 30th, a little boy of 9 years old was brought to us by a local NGO who in turn received the child who was rescued by the Railway Protection Force. Child – Mohammad Fazulu, looked healthy & proportionately built for age but nervous. When asked about the location, he says ‘Bombay’. We put an esc ort to send the boy to Mumbai so that the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) there can restore the child back to his family.

Child had been staying with two other boys (one boys is from Assam and the other boy is from Rajasthan) at a government reception home in Vellore. Last month, when I went to Assam as a resource person for National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD), I took the information of Assam boy with me. When I made enquiries, and sought the help of CWC members there, family was tracked in two hours time. Then I thought to work on the other two children as well when I return to Vellore. Rajasthani boy is from a small town and when I googled the police station of that place, appeared a number. I called and asked for someone’s email address so that I could send the information. Information was exchanged and the child’s family was tracked in 10 minutes time.

That left us with Md. Fazulu. My feeling was that when the other two boys leave, he is going to be all alone and he kept talking about upcoming Ramzan. I really wanted to do something so I contacted the CWC member and a representative of Childline 1098 (emergency phone service for the children in distress) of Mumbai and gave all the information that the child gave. Unfortunately, the information shared was inadequate so the search didn’t go any further and that left us with the only option to wait to send the child back to Bombay with the escort.

I still wasn’t convinced that we had done everything that is possible so I approached an activist friend in Delhi Ms. Shabnam Hashmi. I requested her to find someone for me that would help us make an announcement in all the masjid’s on Ramzan day because the probability of Fazulu’s family attending the masjid on Ramzan day is very high. My friend disagreed with my thinking and suggested that we take it to the larger audience through the media. She agreed to help me with contacts in the media when I expressed my inability to reach out to any media outlet.

On September 8th “Times of India” published an article on Fazulu and here is the link to it. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/City-kids-ball-hunt-lands-him-in-Vellore/articleshow/6516147.cms). First call I got was from a retired assistant commissioner of police suggesting that this boy might be from Karnatake than the state of Maharashtra. He also gave me few investigative clues so I hurried back to the reception home and tried the investigative clues and I was also convinced that this child might be from Karnataka. I do not know how the electronic media got my mobile number but there was a sudden rush of calls from all over the country asking me for an interview. I couldn’t say no to anyone as my only objective was to locate Fazulu’s family. It was headline news on some channels while it was breaking news on the others. Suddenly it felt like the whole country is on search for Fuzulu’s family. My mobile phone wouldn’t stop ringing and I didn’t want to miss even a single call.

Evening at 8:00 PM I was on a national television channel doing a live shot asking people in the state of Karnataka and Maharashtra to help us locate Fazulu’s family. I was getting all kinds of calls but not the one that I was hoping for. Disappointed and tired, at about 11:00 PM I fell asleep.

At 4:03 AM my mobile phone started ringing and the gentleman on the other end started to talk to me in Kannada (language of Karnataka). When I told him that I could speak Tamil, Englihs, Hindi and Telugu, he started to talk to me in Hindi and told me that he is Fazulu’s father. I don’t even recollect what I did, but I was up in the chair. I cross questioned him in several ways and it appeared that he might be the father. I told him to come to Vellore immediately with any evidence that he can produce about his son. I had to leave to Bangalore to attend a family function so I requested Fazulu’s family to come soon.

Media found out from me (they called for an update and I told them the truth) that Fazulu’s family is located and again the channels were on breaking news. At 12:00 PM, family arrived. I received them at the bus stand and took them to the reception home. I handed them over to the Superintendent and left the facility as I was already running behind on my personal travel plans. As I was driving to Bangalore, I knew my heart was in Vellore and wanted to witness the reunion but I couldn’t let my family down. I heard from a reporter friend of mine that the event became so big that the district collector came to witness the reunion.

Next day, I got a call from Fazulu’s father. He thanked me in every way that he possibly could. I knew then it was all worth working for and I did the right thing. I was also glad that we didn’t send the boy to Bombay otherwise it would have complicated the matters even worse. Knowing that I was in Bangalore, father invited me to come to their house for Ramzan (next day) and I couldn’t resist so I said ‘yes’.

Family lives 17 KM from where I was staying at in Bangalore and I reached their house around 5:00 PM on Ramzan day. Fazulu was wearing all traditional muslim outfit. He had henna applied to his hands and Kajal to his eyes. His entire family was waiting for me. They live in a single bed room house with a kitchen. There was palpable excitement to have me in their house. The whole time I was there, we talked about Fazulu. For the first time in my life I ate the traditional Ramzan dinner in a Muslim home. We took pictures and then at about 7:00 PM, I gave a big hug to Fazulu and told him to study hard which he agreed to do and then I left.

There are many unanswered questions but what counted is that a child is with the family today. There are many things that I would do it differently if I have to do it again, but my only conviction is that I rather stretch the rules to be right than to follow the book to be righteous. I couldn’t thank all those who wrote to tell me from all over the world that they watched me on television by name so I am going to say this: Without your encouragement, I would have given up on the first day itself. THANK YOU.

Fazulu and the other two boys taught me this: Every child can have a family if adults can work harder to find one.

One child at a time....

Six months ago a child was rescued and brought to us (Child Welfare Committee - CWC) by the railway protection force. Initial inquiry revealed that he is from the state of Assam and he is about 13 years of age. He got lost in a railway station while travelling with his mom in Tamilnadu. We just couldn't repatriate him back for the past six months because we didnt have an escort to take him back.

As I made my plans to come to NIPCCD in Guwahati (in the state of Assam) for my presentation, I thought why don't I take his information and ask people to help me. So I brought his photo, a letter from him, all the relevant details to locate his family. I came into the office and had talks with people and asked them to help me. Guess what?? In one hours time his family is located and they are on their way to meet me at NIPCCD. I can't tell you how much this mean to this boy!!

I called to tell the office in Vellore to expect a call from his family to talk to him. I leave tomorrow to Vellore and I'll ask the family to come to Vellore as quickly as they can and the child will be handed over to them after due deligence by the Child Welfare Committee. Lesson in short for me: Never underestimate the effort however small it may look. Never know.

It made my day.

How I teach Geography!!

As we celebrate ‘Teachers Day’ in India today, I want to share something I tried inadvertently six months ago but slowly gaining momentum to become a passion now – teaching geography.

When I learnt that many of the HOPE House girls struggle in geography I didn’t know why? So in February this year one of our British voluntary to buy few things, we requested her to buy us World, India and our State (Tamilnadu) maps which she graciously did and we framed and hung.
Everyday girls get a newspaper so we decided that everyone at least read one story of their choice from anywhere in the world but they must also identify the location of the story on the map(s). In the beginning, girls were not very excited but as the interest grew, it spread to others like virus and now I have to literally stop them from falling on the maps while identifying the locations.

Girls were taught then about continents and countries. Girls have gotten pretty good at that and then I was wondering how to keep the interest going. I suddenly remembered downloading ‘Google Earth’ on to my computer few months ago. Since they know now many parts of the world already, I show the girls different areas of the world simply on Google earth. Recently we learnt about ‘Suez Canal’ that connects Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, and the closest approachable land to ‘Antarctica’ (Chile).

While on Google earth we view the photos and videos at that particular location. For example, when we learnt that the ships from the US to India need not circumvent all the way around the horn of the African continent but through Suez canal, we simply went to the location of the Suez canal and viewed the photos and videos to get a glimpse of how the ships pass through and that seem to have helped the girls to remember the location much easily. Girls were amazed to see the pictures and videos of Antarctica and people working there.

Next exercise is to learn about the ‘Straits of Gibralter’ that connects African continent to European continent and the currencies of Asian countries. All of a sudden I am noticing that the interest level in the girls to learn Geography is quite high and It seem to be bearing fruit when I heard recently a girl saying that her teacher was surprised at her knowledge of all the districts of our state.

I realized now that a teacher can be effective when he/ she can also be a learner along with her students. I never liked Geography as a little boy but now I am enjoying learning while I am also teaching. 'Happy Teachers Day'

Let's call it "Child Rights Day"

Recently in Kolkata, a child committed suicide and the reason is this: Allegedly a teacher gave punishment with a cane and he couldn’t take the embarrassment anymore.

This is a case of blatant child rights violation. Article 19 of an International treaty called 'United Nations Convention on Child Rights' (UNCRC) to which India is a signatory, states the following:

States parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s), or any other person who has the care of the child.

In response to joining UNCRC, India has passed a legislation called Juvenile & Justice Act in the year 2000 in which section 23 states the following:

Punishment for cruelty to juvenile or child: Whoever, having the actual charge of, or control over, a juvenile or the child, assaults, abandons, exposes or willfully neglects the juvenile or causes or procures him to be assaulted, abandoned, exposed or neglected in a manner likely to cause such juvenile or the child unnecessary mental or physical suffering shall be punishable with imprisonment for term which may extend to six months, or fine, or with both.

Having said this, now that the accused teacher in Calcutta claimed ignorance of the law on corporal punishment and that brings an important issue to the surface. How do we create awareness about child rights to general public? I feel that India should call November 14th as "Child Rights Day" instead of “Children’s Day”. It'll be like any special day like "Mother's Day" or "Father's Day" and over a period of time I can assure you that there will be increased awareness on Child Rights. I have been saying this since 2008 and I hope someone is listening before many children like Rouvanjit Rawla chooses an extreme measure to end their life.

I suggest that in memory of Rouvanjit Rawna, Indian government should consider bringing in a legislation to change November 14th as a “Child Rights Day”.

A Heart Warming Day

I had two conversations with my daughter recently. She told me that there is a little girl in India and that we should get her. She said, “She has brown skin and black hair like me.” Then she said she would share the girl with me and that she would share her clothes with her as well.

I was surprised and so I said, “Oh really”. I was curious what else she was thinking so I asked her, “What about a boy? She said, “Yes, there’s 3 of them.” Now, I’m just waiting for God to open the humongous doors if He wants me to make the move.

The second conversation must have come about because she was contemplating adoption. She asked, “Did you miss me while I was in India?” I was thinking, Oh Baby, if you only knew how much! I told her “Yes, I missed you a lot!” She said, “I missed you when you were in America, and when you were in India” That surely warmed my heart, how sweet this little child. I responded that I missed her too when I was in India. Then I thought it was interesting that we had both missed each other when she was in India and America and when I was in India and America, on opposite sides of the world without each other.
After that last conversation, we had, a song came on the radio that we are both very familiar with. It was the one that I listened to so much while waiting so impatiently for my little sweetheart to come home. It was “Smile”, by Chris Rice. Some of the words are “I just want to be with you, just want this waiting to be over” and it ends with” finally get to see you smile”. I thought the song finished off our conversations very sweetly.

Momma don't cry (My poem)

I've never been into poetry and it never interested me. That was one of my least favored subjects in school. But something happened after my older daughter Lydia came home. She brought a poet (of a sort) out of me. I wrote this poem when my daughter celebrated her 3rd birthday and today she is almost 9. Time flies.

MOMMA DON'T CRY

Momma don't cry,
Thinking about your precious gift
Who was only three days old
When you'd given her away three years ago
To never to see her again........

Momma don't cry,
Thinking about your baby girl,
Of what she may have eaten,
She was fed and comforted for five months
At the same place that you'd left her......

Momma don't cry,
Thinking about your little angel,
Of where she may have been to,
She has crossed the oceans
To be on the other side of the world.....

Momma don't cry,
Thinking about your bundle of joy,
Of what she may have been doing,
She jumps, runs, climbs, crawls and swings
Like a normal child.....

Momma don't cry,
Thinking about your little princess,
Of what she likes,
Would you be surprised to know that she likes
Books, bicycles, music and blowing bubbles....

Momma don't cry,
Thinking about your beauty queen,
Of what she may be like,
I dare not imagine to compare but
She got thick dark hair, beautiful eyes and a clean set of teeth.....

Momma don't cry
Thinking about your cutie pie,
Of what personality she may have gotten,
Well....let's say she's "Strong Willed"
But quick to cling to our legs to say "I am chorry momma/ Daddy...."

Momma don't cry
Thinking today about your daughter
Of what she'll say/ do if you ever get to meet her,
Knowing her, she'll give you no more tears of sorrow
But of joy.....Full of Joy and a Bundle of Joy.....


(Thoughts on my daughter's biological mother as my daughter celebrated her 3rd birthday)

Possible fallout after the adopted Russian boy's abandonment

As hard as it is to hear about a 7 year old Russian boy being abandoned for no mistake of his, it is not very comforting to see petitions circulating (and media being bombarded) to say that there are so many successful adoptions from Russia. It may be the fact but it is ill timed. Life itself is like that – One bad apple can spoil the entire basket.

I read reports saying that the adoptive mother (who sent the child back to Russia) may not have broken any US laws. How sad is that? Here is a child who has been adopted from Russia and I am assuming that the child became an American citizen (if he didn’t, then there’s another question to answer as to why wasn’t the child being given an American citizenship?). If so, how is that the authorities are saying that the adoptive mother may not have broken any US laws? If so, can we blame the Russians for considering halting their inter-country adoptions?

If abandoning an adoptive child doesn’t amount to violation of any US laws, I can say for sure that every country will be within their right to reconsider their inter-country adoption policies to the United States. Petitions to suggest that there are so many successful adoptions seem to smack in the face of this abuse to ignore it as an 'aberration'.

What is needed now is to ensure that this little boy receives justice and then review US policies on inter-country adoptions in regard to abandonment. If it is true that adoptive parents cannot be held accountable for abandoning their adoptive children, then there’s a major challenge for every stake holder of adoption to deal with.

US is a signatory to Hague convention on inter-country adoptions. Article 5( c ) states this: HAVE DETERMINED THAT THE CHILD IS OR WILL BE AUTHORIZED TO ENTER AND RESIDE PERMANENTLY IN THAT STATE. If need be, laws need to be amended to ensure that the adopted child to the US receives the same and equal rights just like any biological children.

I read quite often (on online lists) that there are so many Americans wishing laws being amended in other countries. Now the world will be watching how the Americans will respond to this crisis before they make their next move. Ball is in the US court.

Challenges in adoption

Arrival of our girls through adoption filled our hearts with joy and our home with noise. They’ve changed our lives forever. Incidentally, both had arrived on the same day three years apart.

Adoption is the best form of rehabilitation for a child that needs care and protection. No wonder the Juvenile and Justice Act (JJ Act) of India accords very high preference for adoption immediately after biological families. There are only two ways that a child can come into the adoption stream namely ‘abandonment’ and ‘relinquishment’.

In abandonment, a child is found, police files an FIR, child is handed over to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), CWC hands over the child to the adoption agency (AA) with a temporary custody order, AA advertises in the newspaper for claimants and waits for 60 days, CWC declares the child free for adoption if no claimants for 60 days.

In relinquishment, a child is surrendered by the family after CWC counseling, CWC hands over the child to AA with temporary custody, 60 days of time for decision reconsideration, CWC declares the child free for adoption.

Challenges posed are of three kinds namely ‘People’, ‘Procedure’ and ‘Legislative’ and can be attributed to negligence, ignorance and arrogance.

PEOPLE CENTERED:
Often prospective adoptive families begin with unreasonable expectations of a child while being ignorant of the procedures to be followed. Families also fail in post placement follow ups. Families can be empowered through pre-adoption counseling but it is not offered regularly.

According to ‘Central Adoption Resource Authority’ (CARA) guidelines, minimum average family monthly income supposed to be Rs. 3000/- but rarely a child is placed in a home with that kind of income in the ‘best interest’ of the child.

Some adoption professionals go beyond the government set guidelines in choosing families. For example, Section 41 (6) (a) of the JJ Act allows any person irrespective of their marital status to adopt but singles are denied adoption on the premise of the ‘best interest’ of the child. JJ Act and subsequent CARA guidelines have already factored the best interests of the child when the law/ guidelines were made.

Police (giving the abandoned child to NGO’s instead of CWC’s), Lawyers (continuing to finalize the adoption under ‘Guardianship And Wards Act’ (GAWA) instead of JJ Act) and the Government officials (non cooperation due to loss of control on adoption to CWC) also have contributed their share of challenges to the field of adoption.

PROCEDURE CENTERED:
Cost reimbursement guidelines set forth by CARA are uneven. Maximum itemized reimbursable expenses for in-country adoption is Rs. 25,200/- where as it is the fixed fee of US$ 3500/- for inter-country adoptions (ICA). It is the same child but different costs for different families calculated differently (itemized versus fixed fee). Temptation to favor ICA over a domestic is irresistible.

Another challenge is the procedure of ICA. Currently, child is given to an inter-country family under GAWA and then the adoption is to be completed under their domicile law. When families don’t complete the adoption, they remain as guardians. Recently a child was repatriated to India from the US on ill health grounds with no accountability for the care takers because they are only guardians not parents.

LEGISLATION CENTERED:
In relinquishment, family has an opportunity to reconsider their decision to give up the child up to 60 days. What if the family exploits the 60 day window with an ulterior motive (medical care for example) to claim the child on the 59th day? Is that fair for the adoption agency who may have incurred medical and maintenance expenses for 60 days?

Unless and until such challenges are addressed effectively, adoption will remain a distant dream for many children and families. Here are few solutions:

SOLUTIONS:

1. Strengthening of CWC system.
2. Mandated pre-adoption counseling certification done by a neutral private party.
3. CARA must adjust the price disparity between domestic and inter-country adoptions.

Happy Easter!

I feel it is good for a family to have traditions, it really helps you to bond together and have something fun to look forward to each year. I think traditions may even be more important for an adopted child, especially as they grow and even if they get too old for certain ones in their teen years they can still look back and remember the good times they had with certain celebrations with their family. I think it also reinforces to the child that the family is an important unit with them included. In short it makes them feel more connected.

Tonight is a big night for our kids in our home. After my husband and I fill and hide some plastic glow-in-the-dark easter eggs, we will hide them around the house, as it is cold outside, and then when we are finished the kids will come and hunt for them in the dark with their little flashlights. We started this tradition a couple of years ago and I like it. I like how it signifies new life/light of Christ in the darkness. Earlier we will decorate hard boiled easter eggs to hide for tomorrow's hunt, which will hopefully be outdoors, if the weather holds. We also usually have the kids find a basket of goodies, complete with a chocolate rabbit in it each year.
Along with going to some Easter services, this is how we celebrate our Easter here. The kids are getting excited already and asking when we can look for the eggs. Now, if they could just wait till it gets dark enough outside.

Far reaching implication of Sushmita Sen's adoption

Remember the story "Bollywood single mom adopts a second child" that I posted last week? As encouraging as it is to read, it also has some far reaching positive effects on the future of adoptions.

As you may know that in India adoptions were done under the personal laws based on one's faith. Hindu's were allowed to adopt under a law called "Hindu Adoption & Maintenance Act" or HAMA which has many restrictions including not allowing adopting two children of the same gender by a same family or if the adoptive family has a biological child of particular gender already, they are not allowed to adopt the child of same gender as the child that they have at home.

Ten years ago, Sushmita Sen had adopted a baby girl under HAMA and she is not allowed to adopt another girl under HAMA. But there came a newer legislation called "Juvenile and Justice Act" or 'JJ Act' in the year 2000 which has adoption provisions which are secular based.

In September of 2009 there was a court verdict in Mumbai high court that held JJ Act above the HAMA as it is secular in nature. So Sushmita Sen cleverly adopted the second child under JJ Act.

Far reaching implication of this adoption is that it brought lot of positive marketing to the secular adoption legislation 'JJ Act' that was very badly needed. Second is that people are beginning to understand the nature of the JJ Act and they are making every use of it which is a good thing.

If I may quote Sushmita Sen from the Indian Express newspaper, she said "“Adoption is about reverence, it’s not charity. More and more people should come forward to adopt. We believe in ties of the heart, not just those of blood. I will adopt as many children as I can raise.”

I couldn't agree with her more. Hats off to you Sushmita.

Less than meaningful solutions for disrupted adoptions

I had been waiting for January 9th, 2010 eagerly as that was the date set forth by the Bombay high court to hear about draft guidelines set for the disrupted inter-country adoptions. Now, it appears that the hearing had taken place and here is a newspaper article and I have mixture of feelings.

My first feeling was that the disadvantaged child’s life was commoditized. It was reported earlier that the draft guidelines doing the rounds around 5000 US dollars and there was resistance from some circles about this so now the figure is set for 500 dollars (approximately little over 20,000 rupees). Considering the healthcare costs in India, this would be woefully inadequate but the missed out point is this: If we feel pridefully that this child is an ‘Indian’ and requested her to be repatriated, then would it not be the state responsibility to pay for the same? How about India creating a corpus in the best interest of all its disadvantaged children?

Second feeling is that adoptive parents are unfairly punished. For an Indian child that’s been given for adoption under the guardianship law of India, it is the responsibility of the Recognized Indian Placement Agency (RIPA), Enlisted Foreign Adoption Agency (EFAA), and Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) along with the adoptive families to ensure that the adoption is finalized in a foreign country. In this reported case, child was asked to be repatriated only because the child’s adoption was not finalized and that means child is still an ‘Indian’ citizen. So who should be held responsible for this? Holding adoptive family alone responsible for it is unfair. RIPA, EFAA and CARA also ought to be held accountable in this case. Apart from that, understanding the intricacies of failure and finding solutions based on those finding would be meaningful.

Thirdly, it is proposed in the draft guidelines that inter-country adoptions must be done only under Hindu Adoption & Maintenance Act (HAMA) or Juvenile & Justice Act (JJ Act) which enables the child’s adoption to be completed in India before the child leave the country. Either of the acts will give the family ‘parental rights & responsibilities’ equal to a biological child. That means that the child assumes the citizenship of a foreign country and the child cannot be repatriated even in the cases of disruption. If so, where is the necessity of these 500 dollars that we are talking about in the second paragraph?

Last but not the least, I think we have two cases of repatriation at the most to refer and we are trying to find a solution where it places undue stress on all the prospective inter-country adoptive families. Solutions that we find must be meaningful, pragmatic and above all, must meet the standard of “best interest of the child” and I am afraid these are not.

Why an Inter-country adoption from India needs to be under the JJ Act?

When the article was published in Times of India on November 16th 2009, about a 14 year old Indian girl being repatriated from the US who was placed in a home under the guardianship for the purposes of adoption, alarm bells seem to have rung loudly in many circles.

Such incidences may be rare but it is one too many to ignore and it is time to find the solution without delay. Before finding the solution, we need to analyze the case to see exactly where the ball may have been dropped.

To foreign citizens, custody of Indian children is given under the Guardians and Wards Act 1890 (GAWA) for the purposes of adoption at a later date to be completed according to the domicile laws of a resident country. Till such a time, the child’s custody remains with the Indian court that had granted the custody. Different countries have different time frames to allow the adoption to be completed. This adoption process needs to be facilitated, assisted and monitored by CARA, Indian adoption agency, and the Enlisted Foreign Adoption Agency (EFFA) to ensure that the adoption is completed by doing post-placement visits to the family by a competent social worker, requiring the family to submit frequent reports and photos and finally submitting the copy of adoption decree granted by the local court etc.

The fact that the child was repatriated indicates that the adoption was not completed for reasons only the custodian family in the US can reveal. Had the adoption been completed, adoptive family would have assumed the rights, privileges and the responsibilities of a legitimate child according to the Hague convention on inter-country adoptions to which India and the United States are signatories. Family would be required to care for the child just like they would in case of a biological child and failing to do so will subject them to the accountability standards of the law.

Now, coming to the solutions, idea of 5000 dollars as a safe deposit is short sighted and counterproductive to the vibrancy of inter-country adoptions. Rather, court may explore the possibility of allowing the inter-country adoptions under Juvenile and Justice Act, 2006 (JJ Act) which allows the adoption process to be completed in India itself.

If the sub section (a) of section 8 of the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 (GAWA) that states “the PERSON desirous of being, or claiming to be, the guardian of the minor” can entitle a foreign citizen to apply and obtain the guardianship of an Indian child (for the “welfare of a minor” as per the sub section (1) of the section 7 of GAWA) for the purpose of adoption in the domicile country at a later date , clause (a) of sub section 6 of section 41 of Juvenile & Justice Act (JJ Act) which states “The Court may allow a child to be given in adoption - to a PERSON irrespective of marital status or;”can most certainly entitle a foreign citizen to apply and obtain the adoption order (in the best interest of the child as per the sub section (aa) of section of 2 of JJ Act) in India.

If for any reason this cannot be done, then the placement of children under GAWA needs to be strengthened because we can no longer turn the blind eye to the inter-country adoptions by maintaining status quo under GAWA nor can we afford to stop the inter-country adoptions altogether.

Consider these suggestions:

1.Mandate psychological/ psychiatric evaluation of an adoptive child that is older than six years of age.

2.Blacklist an enlisted foreign adoption agency (EFFA) for life if they do not enable the guardianship family to complete the adoption within one year of guardianship.

3.Make the prospective adoptive families to spend not less than one month to spend in India with the adoptive child if they are older than six years of age.

If either of these options (allowing under JJ Act or strengthening the process under GAWA), then the government of India must promulgate a new law to cover the inter-country adoptions without delay which is a requirement for the nations that have ratified the Hague convention on inter-country adoptions.

My prediction for the future of adoptions in/ from India – Part II

With the legislative and financial support rendered to promote non-institutional care of children under the Juvenile and Justice Act (JJ Act), 2006, with adoption being given the priority only after the biological parents, adoption scene is about to change significantly in India in the years ahead.

Enormous checks and balances are being built at different levels in to the adoption process with the cooperation of civil society. Under the JJ Act, ‘Child Welfare Committees’ and courts, under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme there are going to be State Adoption Resource Authority or ‘SARA’ (similar to CARA at the state level) and adoption coordination agency or ‘ACA’ which is accountable to SARA and then at the district (similar to country in the US) level there are going to be people monitoring non-institutional care of children and reporting to SARA which in turn report to the central level.

If and when the state signs the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the central government and receives the needed funding for implementation, I predict the following changes will take place in the horizon of three to five years.

(a) Lot more children will enter the adoption stream

(b) There will be a rationalization of children’s homes (read ‘orphanages’) as more and more children in these homes either will be sent home with a ‘sponsorship’ scheme to provide for the child’s needs or ‘foster care’ if the adoption doesn’t work out.

(c) Number of domestic adoptions will increase substantially and will be placed in adoptions near to their communities (If possible, within their district or county).

(d) Number of inter-country adoptions will either remain the same or decrease but the quality of children given for inter-country adoption will change significantly. More children will be of ‘Special needs’ category (including older children).

(e) CARA will agree to do inter-country adoptions under the JJ Act compared to the current practice of doing under the Guardianship Act.

(f) There will be rationalization of cost of adoption.

But these changes cannot be achieved (in spite of federal funding) without the state agreeing to implement it. So the civil society must demand the states to implement the integrated child protection scheme whereby these changes can be achieved quickly. Next, as soon as the state implements integrated Child Protection Scheme, make sure to hold the empowered civil society accountable to the standards that set forth in the scheme.

Concluded.

Ruby

My prediction for the future of adoptions in/ from India - Part I

I just returned home after spending one month in training at National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) in New Delhi on a subject titled “Certificate course on Child Rights and Child Protection” where we have studied child rights and child protection extensively.

1. Legal basis:

There has not been a law as comprehensive as Juvenile & Justice Act (JJ Act) for the protection of children of India to date which gives adoption an important role as never before. Adoption is no longer an act of mercy but a mandated rehabilitative measure under the law (JJ Act) that a child must have a home as a first priority. Explanation of subsection (3) of Section 39 of the JJ Act states the following:

For the purposes of this section “restoration of and protection of a child” means restoration to –

(a) Parents;
(b) Adopted parents;
(c) Foster parents;
(d) Guardian;
(e) Fit person;
(f) Fit institution.

One can see the importance that the law places for a child to have a home through adoption as it is placed right behind the biological parents. Also an entire section is allotted to talk about the adoption (Section 41 and Rule 33) in JJ Act.

JJ Act also has done something very interesting and that is sensing the difficulty of implementing the act. For this, they have incorporated civil society (a five member committee and a three member board) into it taking up statutory responsibilities to do the work and they are being paid honorarium for it. This civil society’s cooperation is envisaged to cover the entire length and breadth of the country.

2. Financial basis:

Government of India (GOI) has launched a scheme called “Integrated Child Protection Scheme” or ICPS to integrate and implement the JJ Act in its true spirit by not only integrating the civil society into it but also by providing the needed funds for it apart from building the needed checks and balances into it to make it accountable.

Adoption scenario that exists today (RIPA, LAPA and Shishu Greh) is about to go through a sea change where LAPA will be de-notified and there will only be two kinds namely RIPA and SAA (Specialized Adoption Agency) and they are to exist in each district (similar to a county in the US). Responsibility to launch ICPS is placed on the state governments and as soon as the scheme is launched, funds are disbursed from the federal government.

(To be continued….)

PDA for mother’s day

Did you buy your gift for the mother’s day yet? If you hadn’t figured it yet, ‘Mother’s Day’ is observed on the second Sunday of the month of May (tomorrow). I am not going to do a product review of PDA’s (Portable Digital Accessories) for your mom but talk about another kind of PDA.

There’s also a PDA that refers to ‘Public Display of Affection’ but what I am about to write is called ‘Private Display of Affection’. It is believed that children learn everything by imitation. Therefore private display of affection (PDA) is a good way to help our children to understand and learn the concept of love.

Recently I read an anonymous quote that read, “If you want your children to know how much you love them, love their mother first”. I think for any little child it is the mother that comes first before anyone in this world and reserve their first love for her in their hearts. It is in this context that above said quote is suggesting that you love their mother first to win them over.

I had never seen my father display his affection for my mom in front of us when we were young (or even now) and that I presume is with many families in India. This is more to do with our culture than anything but how do children learn about the concept of love if they cannot witness it in their own homes? In fact showing any affection is seen as less of a chauvinist, which many men consider it as their birthright.

I am not going to suggest about what and how you should give your PDA but do it in the best interest of your children and family. If I may suggest, do as a family (with your kids) and surprise the mom. Creative you get, better it gets.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

Adoption and arranged marriages

Recently I was talking to a good friend who is also an adoptive father who said that in India chances of arranging a marriage (through an arranged marriage) for an adopted child are zero. I couldn’t believe what I had heard and it set me on to search for answers.

First of all let me tell you what an arranged marriage is: It is a marriage agreed between two families. In olden days (I mean when my parents got married more than 45 years ago), families got together with their son/ daughter, talked and then decided if they should proceed to have a marriage arranged for their children. Bride/ Bridegroom to be had very little to express but went along with their families choices.

Nowadays also families do the same but the difference is that they involve the bride/ bridegroom to be to express themselves and to get to know each other before they proceed to arrange a wedding.

In our culture, families take great pride in arranging a wedding for their children. Families try to look for that perfect match for their child. When I say ‘perfect match’ it refers to more or less to homogenous attributes. Matching religions, castes, education, wealth, employment, language and community etc. Families do their own informal investigations through the networks of their friends & families to reach their own conclusions.

Now, with this background on arranged marriages, what does it got to do about adoption? Why is it that an adopted child’s chance to have an arranged marriage becomes zero? Well…if you put the two together, families have nothing to investigate about the birth family of a child and probably don’t consider an adoptive family as a ‘real’ family and don’t give a hoot about them.

This could be so hurtful and unfair to someone who didn’t choose to be an adopted child. To me, marriage is between two hearts and two herds, in that stated order. There’s not a single homogenous attribute that is greater than two hearts agreeing to commit, communicate and compromise to live in harmony. Period.