For Rakesh Kumar, Child Protection Officer (Non-Institutional Care) in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, child protection work goes far beyond responding to emergencies. Having worked across districts like Gopalganj and East Champaran, he has seen how poverty and crisis often push children into institutional care. This month, we celebrate Rakesh’s commitment to strengthening families and creating pathways for children to return home.
Miracle Foundation India’s training on Family Strengthening and Family-Based Alternative Care have strengthened Rakesh’s perspective and resolve further, encouraging him to look beyond institutionalization and focus on supporting families to stay together whenever possible. Since then, he and his team have worked towards understanding the reasons behind separation and exploring whether families can be supported to care for their children safely.
Today, a large part of his work involves counselling children and parents, conducting home visits, and preparing detailed assessments of a child’s family situation and care needs while coordinating with local stakeholders to strengthen family support systems. According to him, every case requires patience and deeper engagement as the circumstances leading to separation are often complex and emotional.
One case, in particular, stayed with Rakesh. A young girl was brought to a Child Care Institution (CCI); she had run away from home due to a strained relationship with her mother. When Rakesh and the team visited the family, the mother was initially hesitant about her daughter returning home. Through repeated counselling sessions, community involvement, and support under Family Strengthening initiatives, the child was eventually reunited with her family.
Experiences like these reinforced for Rakesh that reintegration is rarely a one-step process. It requires trust-building, consistent follow-up, and helping families address the challenges that lead to separation in the first place. Through sustained efforts, Rakesh and his team have successfully reunited more than 300 children with their biological families.
Beyond individual cases, he also mentors newly appointed staff from CCIs, Childline services, and other child protection stakeholders, encouraging more child-friendly approaches while working with children in need of care and protection.
For Rakesh, child protection is not only about ensuring children’s immediate safety, but also about helping families become stable enough for children to grow up with care, connection, and belonging within their own homes and communities.