Tag: Integrated Child Protection Scheme

Integrated Child Protection Scheme: Protecting and educating those who have none to look after them

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The Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) has played a key role in strengthening the child protection regime in Bengal. This has done by setting up necessary institutional delivery mechanisms and statutory bodies, increasing investment in child protection, and continuously drawing focus on the right of all children to be safe.

The Directorate of Child Rights and Trafficking (DCRT) is responsible for the implementation of ICPS through the State Child Protection Society (SCPS) and the District Child Protection Units (DCPU), the latter running in 20 districts. Only the newly-formed districts of Paschim Bardhaman, Jhargram and Kalimpong are left, where DCPUs are in the process of being set up. All statutory structures like Child Welfare Committees and Juvenile Justice Boards have also been formed in the 20 districts.

Under the aegis of institutional care, DCRT looks after 4,687 children across the State, housed in 19 Government-run Homes, 39 non-governmental organisations (NGO)-run Homes, 23 Open Shelters and 22 Specialised Adoption Agencies (SAA).

There are four additional Places of Safety, namely, Sumangalam (in Bankura), Ananda Ashram, Shilayan (both in Murshidabad) and Ananda Math (in Purulia).

To provide better institutional care, 71 contractual staff were given employment during financial year (FY) 2017-18 in six Government-run homes – Korok Observation and Juvenile Home for Neglected Boys (in Jalpaiguri), Sundarbai Mulchand Mohota (SMM) Home (for girls) (in Liluah), Government School for the Blind, Sahid Bandana Smriti Mahila Abas (for girls) (both in Cooch Behar), Nadia District Shelter (for girls) (in Krishnanagar) and Malda District Shelter (for girls) (in Malda town).

Source: Departmental Budget

Capacity building under Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) for both officers and inmates

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Over the last financial year (2017-18), the State Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Department has done a lot of work in the area of capacity building regarding the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS). The ICPS has played a key role in strengthening the child protection regime in Bengal.

 

Capacity building of child care officers:

  • 217 Child Welfare Police Officers trained on TrackChild portal in collaboration with National Informatics Centre (NIC)
  • Two sensitisation programmes organised for district judges and principal magistrates on Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 (JJ Act) in collaboration with West Bengal Judicial Academy
  • Training of ICPS functionaries on the implementation of JJ Act, covering all the districts
  • Workshop on rehabilitation of children with special need (CWSN) for district social welfare officers (DSWO), Home superintendents and district child protection officers (DCPO) from November 16 to 17
  • Outreach programmes on alternative care and child protection committees (CPC) in Sandeshkhali-1 and Sandeshkhali-2 blocks in the district of North 24 Parganas by officers of State Child Protection Society (SCPS), State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA) and District Child Protection Unit (DCPU)
  • Phase-wise training on minimum standards of care for superintendents, probation officers, child welfare officers, House mothers and House fathers of Child Care Institutions (CCI) across Bengal

 

Capacity building plan for FY 2018-19:

  • Operationalising block-level child protection committees (BLCPC), ward-level child protection committees (WLCPC) and village-level child protection committees (VLCPC) through sustained capacity building
  • Creating information, education and communication (IEC) material on trafficking, adoption, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act), etc.
  • Developing advocacy strategy on child protection issues
  • Rehabilitating and mainstreaming children through capacity building
  • Developing State guidelines on POCSO Act
  • Implementing State Plan of Action to combat human trafficking
  • Capacity building of ICPS functionaries

 

The State Government is also providing vocational training of various types to the inmates of the various Homes

  • Vocational training for inmates of Juvenile Justice Homes (JJ Homes) in painting of car bodies in collaboration an industrial training institute (ITI) and Maruti Udyog
  • Training inmates of CCIs in retail management (leading to placement), hair cutting, tailoring, etc.
  • Training female inmates of SMM Home in Liluah in weaving and designing in collaboration with internationally renowned fashion designer, Bibi Russel
  • Training female inmates of SMM Home in the peeling, scaling and packaging of fish, and cutting of fish fillets, on stipend basis

 

Thus, through a comprehensive exercise of training child care officers as well as Home inmates, the State Government is bringing about all-round improvement in the child care scenario in Bengal.

 

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Initiatives for prevention of trafficking and reintegration of trafficked children

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As child protection is the core mandate of the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), a number of child protection committees (CPC) – community-based child protection mechanisms – have been formed at the village level (VLCPC), ward level (WLCPC) and block level (BLCPC).

As on December 31, 2017, VLCPCs have been formed in 41,899 villages out of the total of 46,505 villages in the State, WLCPCs in 1,702 out of the 2,900 wards and BLCPCs in 340 out of the 341 blocks. Hence, the Government has covered almost the entire State and the rest would be covered soon.

The first phase of training of the master trainers at the district level on standardised child protection committee (CPC) modules has been completed in all the districts. These master trainers would then train officers at the block level.

The Directorate of Child Rights and Trafficking (DCRT) has undertaken several important initiatives to ensure inter-State and inter-departmental cooperation and coordination in combating trafficking of children.

One such initiative was the formulation of State Plan of Action to Combat and Prevent Human Trafficking (SPAHT) in December 2016. Currently it is being rolled out in the districts of South 24 Parganas and Jalpaiguri, where the incidence of trafficking is considerably high.

Various community awareness programmes have been undertaken at the grassroots level to spread awareness on the issue of trafficking including sensitisation of ICDS workers, school students, teachers, para-legal volunteers, police, etc. Local folk artistes are also trained to spread awareness on human trafficking.

Child-friendly police stations have been set up in Sonarpur and Kulti in South 24 Parganas. Adolescent groups and Kanyashree Clubs have been formed which are working as watchdogs in the communities to prevent human trafficking.

The DCRT gives special emphasis on trafficked victims and matters related to their restoration and repatriation. It also organises continual capacity building of State and district stakeholders on child rights, missing children and trafficked persons.

All these work are overseen by the Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Department.