For eight children in Kozhikode district, the new year began on a positive note. Residents of various childcare institutions, they were placed with foster families as part of the foster care programme implemented by the Women and Child Development department in the State. The children had spent 10 days with these families during the Christmas vacation as part of vacation foster care. When they were found to have adjusted well with their new home environment, their stay was extended by three months and could be further increased to long-term foster care.
In all, 72 children have been placed in long-term foster care across the State in 2023. Children may also be placed under three other foster care programmes — vacation foster care, kinship foster care, and group foster care.
The foster care programme in the State is picking up following a lull in the wake of COVID-19. Under the fostering arrangement, a child lives temporarily with an extended or unrelated family so that their institutionalisation can be prevented and they can grow up in a familial environment. Children who are not legally free for adoption and whose parents are unable to care for them owing to illness, death, or desertion by one parent can be placed in foster care.
