Section 45 in Andhra Pradesh Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2003
45. Sponsorship.
(1)Objectives:(a)The Home shall promote a sponsorship programmes as laid down in Section 43 of the Act;(b)The Home receiving sponsorship, shall maintain proper and separate accounts of all the receipts and payment for the programme;(c)Sponsorship services should be considered to supplement the resources of the child coming under the purview of the Act an$ his or her parent or guardian so as to support efforts to reintegrate the child into the community and finance his or her education, vocational training, health care, etc. or to supplement the family income to encourage parent or guardian to fulfil their responsibility towards the child;(d)The Department of Women and Child Development shall promote a sponsorship programme;(e)The State shall provide for the sponsorship of children based on need, when they are discharged from the Reception Unit/Shelter Home/Children's Home/Special Home/After Care Institution.(2)Management of the scheme. - (a) The State shall establish a Sponsorship Fund with funds from State Government and other sources such as individual and corporate sponsors;(b)The Fund shall be administered by a designated, recognised sponsorship agency/identified NGO at the district level, under the supervision of the Child Welfare Committee;(c)The payment shall be made through the institution from where the child was discharged;(d)The Home receiving sponsorship shall maintain proper and separate accounts of all receipts and payments for the programme and(e)For residents of state-run/ recognised NGO-run institutions under this Act, sponsorship support shall be routed through a fund, which supplements the existing budgetary allocation/ grant-in-aid programme.(3)Criteria for selection of children for sponsorship. - (a) Children reinstated with single Parent/biological families/Foster Families who are below Poverty line;(b)Disabled and other children in special need requiring specialised intervention/treatment and referred from any institution or programme under this Act;(c)Children reintegrated with the family, where the parent is disabled or chronically ill but is willing and able to take care of the child;(d)Where the child requires sponsorship to complete his/her ongoing education/vocational training after discharge from the institution, up to a maximum period of two years;(e)Any other cases after due consideration by the Commissioner and(f)Orphaned children placed with extended/foster families shall be referred to the foster care scheme.(4)Duration of the Sponsorship. - Duration of sponsorship support shall be decided on a case-by-case basis, based on the recommendations of the Caseworker that has been endorsed by the monitoring and evaluation committee. However, this shall not exceed five years except under exceptional circumstances.(5)Procedure for sponsorship support. - (a) The social worker of the respective Reception Unit/Shelter Home/ Children's Home/After-Care Institution shall visit the Home of the child and verify that the child fulfills the criteria mentioned above;(b)Each institution a vailing of the sponsorship scheme under this Act, shall entrust a qualified social worker with the responsibility of undertaking all assessments, home visits, documentation, review and follow up of sponsored children;(c)Appropriate proof or record of death/divorce/separation/ disability/illness/income of parent or child, shall be verified and attached to the case file and a report prepared and submitted to the Child Welfare Committee, and the sponsorship agency;(d)Follow-up of the child under sponsorship to get an update on the family situation shall be made once in six months and a report submitted to the Child Welfare Committee and the Sponsorship Agency. Care shall be taken to ensure that the child is free from j abuse and exploitation and is getting adequate education, nutrition and health care;(e)All sponsored children shall regularly attend formal schooling/ skill training/vocational training unless under special instances of disability or illness of the child, which shall be verified by the caseworker;(f)If at any point of time the child has to be institutionalised, the sponsorship shall be discontinued;(g)The extent of sponsorship support from other sources shall be taken into consideration while determining the amount of sponsorship under this scheme;(h)Wherever possible, the child shall be referred to other existing education schemes and services;(i)Appropriate penal action shall be taken against persons found to be deliberately misusing the sponsorship amount and(j)The State level Advisory Board in consultation with other Civil Society Organisations shall work out additional modalities of the sponsorship programme through a suitable scheme.
