Women And Child Development Department

• The WCD Dept. realizes that Child Protection is about protecting children from or against any perceived or real danger or risk to their life, their personhood and childhood. It is about reducing their vulnerability to any kind of harm and ensuring that no child falls out of the social safety net and that those who do, receive necessary care, protection and support so as to bring them back into the safety net. While protection is a right of every child, some children are more vulnerable than others and need special attention.
• In addition to providing a safe environment for these children, it is imperative to ensure that all other children also remain protected. This is because Child protection is integrally linked to every other right of the child.
• Taking this into consideration, the Department has established a network of more than 1100 residential care institutions for children that are alleged and found to be in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection by catering to their basic needs through proper care, protection, development, treatment, social re-integration, by adopting a child-friendly approach.
• The CCIs institutionalize essential services and strengthen structures for emergency outreach, institutional care, family and community based care, counselling and support services at the national, regional, state and district levels

• The state has established these centers for enhancing the creative potential of children by providing them various activities, opportunities and common platform to interact, experiment, create and perform according to their age, aptitude and ability. 
• These types of institutes are opened in slum areas. Currently, once such institute is operating in Mumbai having  75 to 100 children

• Under this programme, a substitute family care is provided for a temporary period to children whose parents are not able to take care of their children due to several reasons including  illness, death, separation or desertion of one parent, or any other crisis.
• Since every child needs and has the right to be cared for in a family, foster care is a programme whereby a home is provided for the child for a short or extended period.
• A grant of Rs. 425 per child per month is given by the govt. to the foster parent(s) through an NGO for meeting the basic expenses of the child. The implementing NGO is given a supporting grant of Rs. 75 per month per child to meet administrative expenses, including home visits.

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