SERUDS started two Orphanages in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh in December 2012. Today the Children’s Home shelters 60 boys and girls in the age group of 4 to 16 years. These come from different family backgrounds like a father who died of AIDS, mother who committed suicide, alcoholic father or a mother abadoned by her husband.

Children Orphanage staff includes one warden, a teacher, a vocational instructor, 2 cooks, an attendant. A doctor has been appointed as Center Medical Officer to conduct health check-up and treat the sick.

Seruds Children’s Home is a registered Child Care Institution (CCI) under sec. 41 (1) and 50 (1) of the Juvenile Justice Act (CPC) 2015. Seruds plans to facilitate adoption under Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA).

What is Procedure to Adopt a Child Within India

Central Adoption Resource Authority or CARA is the central government’s nodal agency for adoptions within India and inter-country. In 2015, the Union ministry of women and child development made several comprehensive changes to the adoption system, including digitization and centralization. The new digital system (Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System, or CARINGS), makes adoptions faster and more transparent by giving prospective adoptive parents access to a centralized list of children.

The prospective adoptive parents should apply to Specialised Adoption Agencies through CARINGS by filling up the online application form. They will opt for desired States by giving option for those particular States at the time of registration.


They select a Specialised Adoption Agency (SAA) nearest to their residence for Home Study Report during which SAA will counsel the prospective adoptive.


The PAPs shall be declared eligible and suitable by the Specialized Adoption Agency based upon the Home Study Report and supporting documents.
On the basis of seniority, the prospective adoptive parents shall be referred online profile of 3 children which will include the photographs, Child Study Report and Medical Examination Report, in their preference category.


After viewing the profile of the children, the prospective adoptive parents may reserve a child within a period of forty-eight hours for possible adoption.


SAA will fix an appointment with the prospective adoptive parents for matching, to assess the suitability of the prospective adoptive parents by an Adoption Committee and shall also organize a meeting of the prospective adoptive parents with the child.


If all goes well, the child will be taken in pre-adoption foster care by the prospective adoptive parents within ten days from the date of matching.


The SAA then files an application in the court of jurisdiction within ten working days from the date of matching of the child with the prospective adoptive parents
The court is supposed to conclude the case within a period of two months from the date of filing of the adoption application.


The Specialised Adoption Agency which has prepared the Home Study Report, shall prepare the post-adoption follow-up report on six monthly basis for two years from the date of pre-adoption foster placement.

How much does it cost to adopt a child

Under the Adoption Regulations 2017, The SAA will charge
i. Fee of Rs.6000 for the Home Study Report
ii. Child care corpus fees of Rs.40,000..
iii. For each post-adoption follow-up visit Rs.2000 will be charged. Total of 4 visits are required over 2 years.
Adoption under Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA) and its Risks

Faced with the long wait times and constraints under the JJ Act, parents (with or without agencies) are resorting to private adoptions facilitated by HAMA. HAMA seemingly meets all their expectations, legally, but sadly exposes them to larger risks. Only Hindus (including Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs) could legally adopt a child under HAMA.

Merely the act of giving and receiving the child constitutes a legal adoption. All that required to legalize adoption is to record the act before a magistrate

A court order is required because adoption under HAMA itself does not protect the rights of the child. The rights have to be secured by way of a separate court order.

There are several risks by adopting under HAMA

The antecedents of the child and the mother are not known. There is no medical history or bona fides of the relationship between the child and the mother. The child could have been actually be trafficked into adoption/ The child may have serious medical issues, unknown to the birth mother or adoptive family.

Parents adopting are not counseled. The transition of a child in the family goes unmonitored. There is no support system, should the child need help.

Private adoption of any orphaned, abandoned or surrendered children is illegal as per JJ Act – even if it be presented as legal by the touts. As a result, if the child requires to travel abroad, CARA will not issue an NOC, as such NOC is issued only to children adopted through CARA, under the JJ Act

Conclusion

People, whether married couples or single persons, looking to adopt should carefully understand the process, options, challenges in helping integrate the adopted kid into new family and adjustment issues. But with proper guidance by support groups, other adoptive parents and adoption agency, the outcome should be a success.

People can also sponsor a child in SERUDS orphanage, sponsor education of a girl student or Sponsor Child Education Material.

Web : https://serudsindia.org/

Mallikarjuna Gorantla
Sai Educational Rural & Urban Development Society (SERUDS)
+91 98499 77577
[email protected]