The social and economic cost of neglecting 'care leavers' who turn 18

The existing state-sponsored system doesn't go far enough to support orphans across the country

Here’s a slice from Samir’s life. He has no second name because he doesn’t remember who his parents were. At the age of six, Samir was found by the police in Ahmedabad wandering alone around the railway station. Attempts to track his parents down failed and he was sent to a care home in Gujarat.

The home provided no real education. Children were left to their own devices all day. Food and other basics were provided, if erratically. But early on, Samir knew he wanted to study. He was transferred from one institution to the other, usually failing to fit in. Yet Samir was determined to get an education.

He finally found what he was looking for at the fifth child care institution he was placed in. The home housed only ten children so it didn’t seem perpetually short-staffed. The children received better care and education. They were also taught life skills through workshops on topics such as developing relationships, the importance of friendship, handling emotions and staying safe. Samir’s enjoyment of sports was encouraged by the home too. As a result, he even managed to take part in sporting events in the district. “For the first time, a place felt like home. It was a place where I could approach the caregivers and speak with them about my feelings and thoughts openly,” recalls Samir. But he is one of the lucky few.

This is how the orphan-care system functions in India: If a child is deemed an orphan (abandoned, run away or parentless), with no one coming forward to claim the child, a social worker takes him or her to a temporary shelter. Further attempts are made to find the parents or guardians (these attempts are usually made by NGOs working in the sector rather than state-run shelters). Homes for children like Samir are run both by the government and NGOs. But recent studies have shown that 93 per cent of orphans are cared for in the NGO system; the state system manages to cater to only 7 per cent.

A variety of NGOs work in different parts of the country. Credible ones include Udayan Care, SOS Children’s Homes, Prerna, the Vinimay Trust, the Salaam Balak Trust and Don Bosco Children’s Homes.

As he approached 18, Samir began to dread his birthday as that meant he’d have to leave the home where he finally felt secure. Orphans who turn 18 are suddenly set adrift by a system that has nurtured them. They have no idea where to turn or what direction to take.

This peculiar, often tragic, situation is what impelled Udayan Care, a Delhi-headquartered NGO that works in 17 states to conduct a study. The study revealed that a system that works reasonably effectively till the age of 18 for orphans abandons them as soon as they become “adults”. In some way, this undoes all the good done to the child over years of support.

Kiran Modi, founder of Udayan, with her alumni

Udayan Care executive director Aneesha Wadhwa says the problem is as much economic as it is social. She says society spends anything between Rs 80,000 and Rs 2 lakh annually on each child it supports through the state system. But the money goes waste once a child who is forced to exit the system at 18 loses her way, as most seem to do. Wadhwa says NGOs working in this area had already suspected as much. It was to establish this hypothesis that Udayan Care conducted a two-year research study, with the support of Unicef and Tata Trusts, across five states (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan and Karnataka). They surveyed 472 children who had left childcare institutions at 18 to understand how they had fared.

The study echoed what anecdotal evidence had already indicated. Most of those surveyed said they needed the greatest support at the stage when they become adults and are expected to manage independently overnight. Within an institution – good or bad – they had basic support. “It is when you are thrown out into the big, bad world that mentoring, advice, counsel, access, guidance and a kind word can make all the difference,” explains Wadhwa. She says that care leavers – as they are termed -- face “heightened challenges and poorer outcomes” on the journey to independence on account of both their fractured pasts and a lack of planned interventions preparing them for life outside care institutions.

Vandhana Khandhari, child protection specialist at Unicef, says that the main aim remains to ensure smooth transitioning of children into adulthood, where support continues so that no child falls off the safety net. “We must also realise that a ‘one size fits all’ approach does not work, especially in a county like India with our socio-cultural diversities,” she adds.

To highlight the plight of care leavers, Udayan Care and Unicef have been knocking on a variety of doors. Wadhwa was invited this year by the Chevening Fellowship run by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to present the study to their 2019 Fellows, all senior professionals from the IAS, NGOs and the corporate sector. But the advocacy remains an uphill task, simply because the care of orphans in a state subject in India -- every state has its own rules, systems and laws.

At the central level, the ministry of women and child development concerns itself with the matter. Guidelines issued by the ministry may direct states to offer better care for such children but in practical terms every state flies its own kite. Once a child turns 18, he or she may become the business of a particular state’s social welfare or social justice department. In some cases, he or she is dealt with by child welfare wings. And all too often, they are simply neglected.

It isn’t as if the laws directing the state to provide a continuum of care don’t exist. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 (Section 46) and Juvenile Justice Rules 2016 (Rule 25) define a pathway for aftercare of children leaving institutional care upon turning 18. It requires state governments to provide for further education, give them employability skills and placements as well as places to stay to facilitate their re-integration into society’s mainstream.

While there are a few destitute homes (Swadhar Greh) where girls over 18 are sent, there are currently no options for boys over 18. There is a scattered site housing system in some states and bigger cities – homes where a small group of care leavers over 18 live together – but the system is scrappy and doesn’t work unless a well-run NGO takes charge. Like with many other well-intentioned laws in the country, much of this remains on paper. And in practice, an orphan at 18 remains one.