Adoption Regulations 2017 Effective From January 16, 2017

Adoption Regulations 2017 Effective From January 16, 2017 The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development on January 4, 2017 issued a guideline regarding the Adoption Regulations 2017.  These new rules will be effective from January 16, 2017. The Adoption Regulation 2017 implements the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. It has been framed by the Central

Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) to be mandatory under section 68 I of the Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and will replace the existing Adoption Guidelines, 2015.

Specific Features of the Adoption Regulation 2017. The Adoption Regulation 2017 provides to address delay in the adoption procedure in time bound and speedy manner while protecting the interest of the Adoption Agencies and Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs). It also specifies the procedure wherein child is adopted by relatives both within the country and abroad.  The new regulation has relaxed the norms for adoption for certain categories of parents like those who lost child due to sickness or accident or one who want to adopt children with special needs. Number of days for Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs) for completing the procedures of adoption after reserving the child has been increased to twenty from the existing fifteen. The new set of rules has also increased the validity of home study report from two to three years. It consists of 32 Schedules. CARA shall be the nodal agency to take care of the adoption process under the JJ Act, 2015 through Child Adoption Resource Information & Guidance System (CARINGS).

CARINGS system would enable the agency to maintain the record of the adopted child and track the post adoption follow up to safeguard the adopted children. Panel of professionally qualified or trained social workers would also be established by the District Child protection Unit (DCPU) for this purpose.