Presentation on Central Adoption Resource Authority – INDIA
CARE AND SUPPORT SERVICES FOR CHILDREN
17SWK652
SUBMITTED BY: SREELAKSHMI T S
ROLE NO: CB.SW.P2MSW20033
SUMBITTING TO: MR. V. S. VARUNANVELU
ADOPTION
• Relationship of the child is severed legally from his/her biological parents.
• Child become the lawful child of his/her adoptive parents.
• All the rights privileges and responsibilities post adoption are similar to that
incase of a biological child.
• Under JJ Act(2015) and AR (2015):- In-Country and Inter-Country Adoption
(Sec 2 (2) of JJ Act, 2015 & Sec 12 of HAMA, 1956)
Biological Adoptive
Parents Parents
Adoption Legislation
• Hindhu Adoption Maintenance Act,1956(HAMA)
• Juvenile Justice ( Care and Protection of Children)
Act, 2015 (JJ ACT)
• Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 ( GAWA)
• Adoption Regulations, 2017
• Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption,
CENTRAL ADOPTION RESOURCE AUTHORITY
• CARA was founded in 1990. It is a statutory body under the Juvenile Justice Act,
2015.
• The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is the nodal authority in India for
the adoption of Indian children.
• It is a statutory body functioning under the Ministry of Women and Child
Development, GOI.
• It is authorized to regulate and monitor inter-country and in-country adoptions.
• Central Adoption Resource Authority is headed by Member Secretary & CEO and
has a sanctioned strength of 27 officers and staff
CENTRAL ADOPTION RESOURCE AUTHORITY
• CARA is the designated authority in India for inter-country adoptions according to the provisions of
the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, 1993. India ratified the convention in 2003.
• The authority chiefly handles the adoption of orphaned, surrendered and abandoned children
through its recognized/associated adoption agencies.
• The budget allocation of the Institute incurs expenditure from the budget allocated by Ministry of
Women and Child Development Govt. of India.
• Vision:-Is to find a loving and caring family for children without parental care, also those who are
orphaned, abandoned and surrendered.
• Mission:- is to expand adoption services to every corner of the country, make efforts for expeditious
rehabilitation of the children through adoption, ensure standardization in the functioning of
adoption agencies, promote ethical practices in adoption and facilitate parents desiring to adopt.
Functions
• To promote In-country adoptions and to facilitate Inter-state adoptions in
coordination with State Agency;
• To regulate Inter-country adoptions;
• To frame regulations on adoption and related matters from time to time as
may be necessary;
• To carry out the functions of the Central Authority under the Hague
Convention on protection of Children and Cooperation in respect of Inter-
country Adoption;
• Any other function as may be prescribed.
Major Activities
• Monitor and regulate the procedure for in-country adoption;
• Receive applications of an Non-Resident Indian or Overseas Citizens of India or a foreigner living
abroad through authorised adoption agency or Central Authority or the Government department or
the Indian diplomatic mission concerned and process the same in terms of section 59 (5) of the Act;
•Receive and process applications received from a foreigner or an Overseas Citizen of India residing in
India for one year or more, and who is interested in adopting a child from India in terms of sub-
section (12) of section 59 (12) of the Act;
•Issue No Objection Certificate in all cases of inter-country adoptions;
•Issue Conformity Certificate in the inter-country adoption cases under Article 23 of the Hague
Adoption Convention in respect of inter-country adoption;
•Intimate the immigration authorities of India and the receiving country of the
•child about the inter-country adoption cases;
•Provide support and guidance to State Adoption Resource Agencies, District Child Protection Units,
Specialised Adoption Agencies and other stakeholders of adoption in related matters, through
trainings, workshops, exposure visits, consultations, conferences, seminars and other capacity
building programmes;
•Coordinate with State Governments or the State Adoption Resource Agencies and advise them in
adoption related matters;
Cont.…
• Establish uniform standards and indicators, relating to:-
(a) Adoption procedure related to orphan, abandoned and surrendered children and also
related to relative adoptions;
(b) Quality child care standards in Specialised Adoption Agency and Child Care
Institution;
(c) Monitoring and supervision of service providers;
(d) Standardization of documents in cases of adoptions; and
(e) Safeguards and ethical practices including online applications for facilitating hassle-
free adoptions;
• Conduct research, documentation and publication on adoption and related matters; 3
• Maintain a comprehensive centralised database relating to children and prospective
adoptive parents for the purpose of adoption in Child Adoption Resource Information
and Guidance System;
• Maintain a confidential centralised database relating to children placed in adoption
and adoptive parents in the Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance
System;
Cont.…
• Carry out advocacy, awareness and information, education and communication activities
for promoting adoption and other non-institutional child care services either by itself or
through its associated bodies;
• Enter into bilateral agreements with foreign Central Authorities as prescribed under the
Hague Adoption Convention, wherever necessary;
• Authorise foreign adoption agencies to sponsor applications of Non-Resident Indian
(NRI) or Overseas Citizen of India or foreign prospective adoptive parents for inter-
country adoption of Indian children;
• Set-up counselling Centre in its Head Quarters and support State Adoption
• Resource Agencies for setting-up of Counselling centre at State and District level for:-
(a) Counselling of the prospective adoptive parents;
(b) Counselling of older children, wherever required;
(c) Preparing post-adoption follow-up report, wherever required;
(d) Post adoption counselling of adopted children and adoptive parents; and
(e) Assisting and counselling of older adoptees in root search. 38. Regional passport officer.-
Based upon an application made along with required.
The following are the fundamental principles in the adoption of
children from India.
• While processing any adoption placement, the interests of the child would
be paramount.
• Preference shall be given to place the child with adopted parents who are
Indian citizens, and preferably in the child’s own socio-cultural
environment, as far as possible.
• All adoptions should be registered on the Child Adoption Resource
Information and Guidance System and the confidentiality of the same shall
be maintained by the CARA.
Other Organizations
• State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA
• Specialised Adoption Agency (SAA)
• Authorised Foreign Adoption Agency (AFAA)
• District Child Protection Unit (DCPU)
Eligibility to Legally Adopt a Child in India
• They should be physically, mentally and emotionally stable; financially capable;
motivated to adopt a child; and should not have any life-threatening medical
condition.
• If prospective parents satisfy all other criteria for adoption, they can adopt
irrespective of their marital status and irrespective of whether they already have a
biological child of their own.
• A single female is eligible to adopt a male or female child.
• A single male is not eligible to adopt a female child.
• In the case of a couple adopting, the consent of both partners is necessary. Also,
they should have completed at least two years of a stable marital relationship.
• Couples with more than four children are not considered for adoption.
• The minimum age difference between the child and either of the prospective
adoptive parents must not be less than 25 years.
• The age of prospective adoptive parents as on the date of registration shall be
counted for deciding the eligibility and the eligibility of prospective adoptive
parents to apply for children of different age groups shall be as under:
AGE OF THE CHILD MAXIMUM COMPOSITE MAXIMUM AGE OF SINGLE
AGE OF PROSPECTIVE PROSPECTIVE ADOPTIVE
ADOPTIVE PARENT PARENT
Up to 4 years 90 years 45 years
Above 4 up to 8 years 100 years 50 years
Above 8 up to 18 years 110 years 55 years
Eligibility of the child to be adopted
• Any orphaned, surrendered or abandoned child declared free for adoption
by the child welfare committee.
• A child of a relative as defined in the Juvenile Justice Act.
• Child or children of the spouse from an earlier marriage, surrendered by
the biological parent(s) for adoption by the step-parent.
Target Group:
CARA primarily deals with adoption of orphan, abandoned and
surrendered children through its associated /recognised adoption
agencies.
PREFERENCE IN ADOPTION
Children move from the in-country to the inter-country adoption list
according to the schedule below:
• After 60 days, if the child is below 5 years of age.
• After 30 days, if the child is above 5 years of age or is a
sibling.
• After 15 days, if the child has any intellectual or physical
disability.
PROCEDURES FOR ADOPTION
Do’s and Don’ts
Procedure to be followed in adoption:
• Prospective parents should register themselves with the Child Adoption Resource
Information and Guidance System (CARINGS) of CARA.
• Then the specialised adoption agency (SSA) conducts a Home Study Report (HSR)
of the prospective adoptive parents and uploads the data on CARINGS.
• The suitability of the parents are determined and if not found suitable, they are
rejected and informed of the reasons.
• The prospective adoptive parents can reserve from one to six children for adoption.
• Within a stipulated time, the parents visit the adoption agency to finalise the child.
If they do not finalise within the period, they come down on the seniority list.
• Once the child is finalised, the SAA completes the referral and adoption process on
CARINGS.
• Then the parents take in the child for pre-adoption foster care and the SSA files the
petition in the court.
• Then the court issues the adoption order.
• Post-adoption follow-up reports are conducted for a period of two years.
Scope in writing a research paper on
Adoption in India
• Archaic laws, long winded paperwork, and bureaucracy, and social taboo
are some of the reasons for low adoption rates in India. Through an
research we can identify what all are the cultural barriers, why the Indian
culture saw adoption as a social taboo.
• 'An adopted child wouldn't prove to be equally loyal' or 'parents can feel
true affection only for their biological children.'
• Through a research we can also understand the effectiveness adoption
legislations and its importance.
• We can understand what all are the advantages and disadvantages of
adoption in India.
• The role of Adoption agencies.
References
• https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/central-adoption-resource-authority-cara/
• http://cara.nic.in/
• http://cara.nic.in/PDF/faqs.pdf
• https://
www.google.co.in/books/edition/Adoption_in_India/NrFoDwAAQBAJ?hl=
en&kptab=editions&gbpv=1
• http://cara.nic.in/PDF/RTI/RTI%20Manual%20of%20CARA.pdf
• http://cara.nic.in/PDF/Role%20of%20Judiciary.pdf
• http://cara.nic.in/PDF/Bench%20Book%20For%20Adoptions.pdf
• http://cara.nic.in/PDF/tenders/Budget.PDF
THANK YOU…
