STATE ADOPTION RESOURCE AGENCY - MAHARASHTRA

 SARA in Maharashtra state started functioning in the month of July, 2012  SARA functions as the agency to promote in- country adoption and regulate inter-country adoption.

STATUS OF FOSTER CARE No of children in various types of Foster Care: Kinship Foster Care Foster Care outside the family-1823 GIRLSBOYSTOTAL

STATUS OF SPONSORSHIP  MSCPS is collaborating with Tata Memorial Hospital and other allied hospitals with their ‘Children’s Palliative Care’ Project and would be linking all the children with life limiting conditions to Sponsorship. GIRLSBOYSTOTAL

 Children with life limiting conditions (for e.g. cerebral palsy, Thalassemia etc.)  Children who are suffering from cancer, HIV etc.  Malnourished Children  Children with physical disabilities  Children with mental disabilities  Children with psychological disabilities  Children with sensory impairments  Children with learning disabilities, autism etc  Children in need assistive devices and aids (for e.g. Hearing aids, spectacles, wheel chairs, crutches etc.)  Destitute children (institutional/non institutional)  Runaway children  Children forced into child marriage  Children forced into child labor  Trafficked children  Begging children  Children in need of educational, vocational etc. support belonging to low socio economic background  Children in foster care/ adoption  Riot affected children  Children affected due to natural calamities/disasters  Children affected due to cross border conflicts  Children who are physically or sexually abused  Children who require sponsorship support for legal aid  Children with any other special needs and requirements such as sports equipments, extracurricular activities (singing, dancing, playing instruments etc)

STATUS OF ADOPTION TOTAL NO. OF SAAs65 TOTAL CAPACITY2390

<6YRS>6 YRS TOTAL (GIRLS) <6 YRS>6 YRSTOTAL (BOYS) TOTAL (BOYS +GIRLS) TOTAL NO. OF CHILDREN Adopted in- country Adopted inter- country Pre- adoption Foster Care Foster Care Transferred to children home

HEALTH STATUSGIRLSBOYSTOTAL Mentally Challenged Physically Challenged Other Categories

SIBLING INFORMATION No. of children with 1 sibling16 No. of children with 2 siblings5

Average length of stay GirlsBoysTotal Upto 6 months months months months More than 2 years

ADOPTION STATUS OF CHILDREN IN SAA s GirlsBoysTotal Children in the process of being declared legally free Children declared legally free for adoption Children matched with PAP’s Children in pre- adoptive foster care

Status of Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs) No. of registered PAP’s on first day of the quarter 1317 No. of PAP’s registered during the last quarter 246 No. of PAP’s matched during the last quarter 136 No. of PAP’s rejected during the lastquarter reported upon 76 No. of PAP’s having children in pre-adoptive foster care 200 No. of PAP’s waiting for children as on last day of quarter 1275

 Programmatic & Financial Assessment of SAAs - SARA has done programmatic and financial assessment of 17 SAAs which are funded by MSCPS. - It was observed that out of 17, 4 agencies were not working as per the CARA guidelines and JJ Act, therefore Project Sanctioning Committees (PSCs) of ICPS cancelled their recognitions.

 Cleanliness and Hygiene was not maintained  Rooms, toilets and even the kitchen were not clean and were in bad conditions  Poor hygiene resulted in bed sores and injuries to the children  Health of the children were compromised and neglected; proper medical care was not being provided  Minimum standards of care of children mentioned in CARA Guidelines were not maintained.  The SAAs were not maintaining proper records as per the CARA guidelines and also they had taken unwed mother’s signatures on blank stamp papers.  SAAs were also engaged in misguiding the families

 Coordination with SAAs & ARC  To discuss issues and concerns with respect to in- country and inter-country adoption in the state.  SARA will conduct quarterly meetings with all SAAs/RIPAs to discuss adoption related issues  With respect to pending cases SARA will persuade with the ARC to have at least 3 meeting in a month to clear the cases on time.

Quarterly meeting with SAAs/RIPAs Training on ‘Track Child’ to all the SAAs /RIPAs State level consultation on Adoption, Foster care and Sponsorship Preparation of comprehensive Adoption, foster care and sponsorship plan for the state Programmatic and financial Assessment of all the SAAs