Where do our children come from?
BSSK is licensed to keep children from new born to 6 years of age. Thus, newborn and children upto the age of 6 years come to us from various sources:
i) Babies born out of wedlock are relinquished to the institution for personal and social reasons.
ii) Birth families relinquish their children due to personal reasons.
iii) Abandoned and lost children are also brought to us, through the police and child welfare committee.
iv) Children also come through referrals from doctors, well wishers, government
institutions or institutions working in the same field.
Unwed Parent's Service: Unwed parents unable to raise their children come to BSSK to relinquish them for their rehabilitation by adoption. A social worker makes them aware of other possible options, which could assist them to keep their child. If the given options do not help in their situation, then the child is legally relinquished to BSSK. A period of 2 months is given to birth parents to revoke their relinquishment. Unwed mothers who come during pregnancy are counselled by the social worker. The social worker makes them feel secure and assists them to make an informed decision for the child's future. The expectant mother is also given the necessary antenatal care.
Doctors play a major role in avoiding foeticide, infanticide and abandonment of the babies. When doctors sense that the baby is at such a risk, he/she may take action in time by reassuring and guiding the patient to approach an institution like BSSK. We adhere to all legal procedures. Total confedentiality is assured, thus referring such cases to a professional agency will assist the parent and child.
Family Preservations: Often relatives or birth parents approach BSSK for a child's permanent rehabilitation. This could be due to the loss of parents or parents being unable to raise the child for various personal reasons like having a terminal illness or physical handicap. Our social workers make sincere efforts to assist the family to keep the child by counselling, offering options and short term financial aid to stabilize their situation and overcome the crisis. Abandoned and lost children are also brought to us. Police investigations are done and information about the child is published in the local newspapers and whenever necessary an SOS TV announcement is also made. When a found abandoned child is admitted, we make every effort to locate the child's birth
family. BSSK's first intent is to ensure that a child can grow up within his or her own birth family. Therefore if the family is located the child is restored to the birth family by the order of Child Welfare Committee.
Abandoned Children: Children who are found without any care giver around, are brought to BSSK for immediate care and protection through Police by the order of Child Welfare Committee. We try to locate child's family with the help of Police and SOS announcements in the newspaper and on television. If the child is able to give any information or clue about the family, we make every effort to reach out to his family. If the family can not be traced, the Child Welfare Committee then declares the child to be destitute and free for adoption. This enables us to plan the child's permanent rehabilitation.
Conclusion: The legal status and best interest of each child are closely taken into consideration in making decisions relating to a child's permanent rehabilitation.
The department of child admissions ensures that the documents and file of each child is carefully screened by professionally trained social workers. Our objective is to PRESERVE and STRENGTHEN the family so that the child can be raised in its own birth family. Hence thorough scrutiny is done to ensure the legal status of each child.
|
