Section 34 in Punjab Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2014
34. After Care Organisation.
(1)The State Government shall establish an after care organization for care of juveniles or children after they leave special homes and children's homes with the objective to facilitate their transition from an institution-based life to mainstream society for social re-integration.(2)The after care organization shall be available for eighteen year to twenty one year old persons, who have no place to go to or are unable to support themselves. The District or State Child Protection Units shall make collaboration with voluntary organizations as per the provisions of these rules.(3)Once the Board or the Child Welfare Committee, as the case may be, passes an order in Form XIX for placing a juvenile or a child completing eighteen years of age under the after care organization, a copy of such order shall be sent to the District and the State Child Protection Unit and the State Government, who shall be responsible for arranging after care organization.(4)The Board or the said Committee, as the case may be, shall have jurisdiction over the persons placed in after care organization.(5)The objective of these organizations, shall be to enable such children to adapt to the society and during their stay in these transitional homes, they shall be encouraged to move away from an institutionbased life to a normal one.(6)The key components of the programme shall include,-(a)community group housing on a temporary basis for groups of young persons aged eighteen years to twenty one years;(b)encouragement to learn a vocation or gain employment and contribute towards the rent as well as the running of the home;(c)encouragement to gradually sustain themselves without state support and move out of the group home to stay in a place of their own after saving sufficient amount through their earnings; and(d)provision for a peer counsellor to stay in regular contact with these groups to discuss their rehabilitation plans and provide creative outlets for their energy and to tide over crisis periods in their life.(7)During the course of vocational training, a stipend may be given to such young person till they get employment.(8)Loans may be arranged for the youth in an after care programme aspiring to set up entrepreneurial activities on the basis of an application made by them, and after due verification of the need for such a loan, necessary professional advice and training shall be made available to the youth in such after care programme.(9)The structure shall include 6 to 8 youths in each group home, who may opt to stay together on their own and one peer counsellor for a cluster of five group homes.
