Introduction

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 was enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to juvenile in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection, by providing for proper care, protection and treatment by catering to their development needs, and by adopting a child-friendly approach in the adjudication and disposition of matters in the best interest of children and for their ultimate rehabilitation through various institutions established under this law. The law also addresses the growing number of crimes committed by children aged 16 to 18 in recent years.

Salient features of JJA:

1. The Act known as ‘The Reformatory Act’ deals with two categories of children, namely children in need of care and protection and children in conflict with the law. The juvenile/child has been defined as anyone who has not completed the age of 18 years.
2. The Act addresses those children who have completed 16 years of age but are below 18 in case of heinous offences and treats such offenders as adults.
3. The competent authority to deal with children in need of care and protection is the Child Welfare Committee which constitutes a Chairperson and four other members, one of whom at least should be a woman. Chapter IV of this Module would focus in detail about Children in need of care and protection and the functioning of the CWC in rehabilitation and disposition of cases.
4. Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) is the competent authority to deal with children in conflict with law which comprises three members. The Chairperson of the Board should be a First Class Judicial Magistrate and two honorary social workers out of whom at least one should be a woman. Special provisions for children in conflict with law and the responsibilities of the Board are discussed in detail in Chapter III of this Module.
5. The focus of the new law is the restoration of the child which means restoration to the parents, adopted parents, and foster parents. The Act also provides for the establishment of various kinds of Institutions such as:

• - Children’s Home for the reception of children in need of care and protection.
• - Special Homes for the reception of child in conflict with law
• - Observation Homes which are meant for the temporary reception of children during the pendency of any inquiry.
• - After-care organizations which are meant for the purpose of taking care of children after they have been discharged from Children’s Home or Special Homes.

6. A few sections in the Act (Sec 23 – 26) are focused on the offences committed by anyone against a child such as assault, causing mental or physical suffering and employment of a child which are considered as non bailable offences.

Scheme for rehabilitation of juveniles

The recovery and social inclusion of children under the Act is performed on the basis of the child’s individual care plan. It is done ideally by family-based treatment such as return to the family or guardian with or without guidance or support, or adoption or foster care.

Rehabilitation is done by providing institutional and non-institutional care:

Institutional Care

1. Observation Homes- Section 8 of the Act, provides that the state government may establish and operate observation homes in each district or group of districts. A minor is temporarily received and detained in these homes for their social study. During the stay in the establishment, medical and psychiatric services were also provided, as well as basic equipment such as food, clothing and accommodation for minors. The competent authority then decides, depending on the case, to keep them in the institution or to entrust them to their parents.
2. Special Homes- Section 9 of the Act, states the state government may establish and maintain special homes in each district or group of districts. When the offence committed by a minor is proven and condemned by the competent authority, he/she is placed in the special home established by the state governments. In the special home, minors are treated for a long time or until their age ceases.
3. Children’s Home- Section 34 of the Act states that the children’s home is a home where children in need of care and protection are placed on the order of a competent authority. Children are provided with all the services necessary for overall development up to a fairly high age, that is, until 18 years of age.
4. Shelter Homes- According to Section 37, Shelters Homes are for children in need of urgent support. Shelter homes provide children with space where they can play and engage in creative activities.

Non-institutional Care:

1. Section 40 of the Act talks about the process of rehabilitation and social reintegration. The rehabilitation and social reintegration of a child must begin during his stay in a children’s home or special home monitoring organization and shall be carried out alternatively by (i) adoption, (ii) foster care, (iii) sponsorship, and (iv) sending the child to an after-care organisation.
2. Adoption- Section 41 talks about adoption as the process by which the adopted child is permanently separated from his biological parents and becomes the legal child of his adoptive parents with all rights, privileges and responsibilities that are attached to a biological child. Adoption is done with the mutual consent of the family, who hands over the child and who receives the child. By adoption, the child receives a new name, a legal status and a permanent family.
3. Foster care- Section 42 describes that foster care is one of the non-institutional measures used for the temporary placement of children. Homeless, abandoned, neglected and deprived children benefit from a foster family. He replaces parents with others to provide care outside their own home. The child is placed in foster care when natural parents are faced with problems such as sentencing, life-threatening illnesses and being abroad.
4. Sponsorship- Section 43 deals with another type of non-institutional measure called the Sponsorship Program which provides additional assistance to families, children’s homes and special homes to meet the medical, nutritional, educational and other needs of children. Sponsorship is given to improve their quality of life. There are many types of sponsorship programs for children, such as individual-to-individual sponsorship, group sponsorship or community sponsorship.
5. After Care Organisation- The juveniles are taken care of in the organization of the aftercare, which is a transition home, after leaving the special homes and the children’s home. Minors in conflict with the law and children in need of care and protection, both categories are placed in aftercare organizations. Monitoring organizations allow minors to lead an honest and industrious life. Follow-up agencies are committed to the primary goal of enabling children and youth to adapt to society.

Conclusion

To be effective in recovery and to maintain the children’s well-being, daily follow-up is important. The task of social workers is all the more important because children need continuous assistance even after recovery. The main objective should be to find a loving and caring family for each adoptable child and to ensure that the child’s ‘best interests’ are always borne in mind. The earlier a child is adopted by alternate families, the better it is for the child’s overall growth and progress.