In collaboration with the Department of Child Welfare & Special Services (formerly known as the Department of Social Defence), Government of Tamil Nadu, Miracle Foundation India has launched an initiative to bolster family structures and promote family-based alternative care for children across five districts of the state since November 2022. This initiative includes capacity-building efforts for child protection personnel at both state and district levels, aimed at ensuring children remain within their families, and lead secure, purposeful and fulfilling lives.

The implementation of Individual Care Plans (ICPs) is pivotal, as mandated by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Amendment Rules, 2022, to comprehensively address the unique circumstances and needs of each child. We urged for the inclusion of specific ‘Areas of concern,’ ‘Proposed interventions,’ and a progress assessment scale in the ICP Form, facilitating social workers and case workers in effectively documenting children’s overall well-being data.

Acknowledging the significance of these enhancements, the Department of Child Welfare & Special Services, Government of Tamil Nadu, has recently integrated all proposed additions into the amendments to the Tamil Nadu Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2017, as amended in 2022. In a letter dated March 3, 2024, Mr. Amar Kushawha, Director of the Department of Child Welfare & Special Services, Tamil Nadu, commended the “valuable suggestions [for enhancing] the Individual Care Plan for children [within] the Juvenile Justice System.” He further affirmed that “the [recommendations from] Miracle Foundation [have] been [duly acknowledged] and incorporated in the Individual Care Plan Format.”