Ranchi, Oct 27: The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) on Tuesday called for stronger coordination among child protection agencies, healthcare institutions and adoption authorities to expand family-based rehabilitation and adoption opportunities for children with special needs.
The call was made at CARA’s fifth Regional Consultative Workshop for the Eastern Zone, organised in Ranchi in collaboration with the Jharkhand government and the State Adoption Resource Agency (SARA). The workshop focused on addressing procedural hurdles, improving stakeholder coordination and ensuring that more children with special needs find safe, permanent and nurturing families.
Held under the Ministry of Women and Child Development’s Adoption Awareness Campaign 2025, the workshop centred on promoting non-institutionalised rehabilitation of children with special needs, also referred to as Divyaang children.
Around 175 stakeholders representing approximately 115 districts across Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal participated in the consultation. The Eastern Zone comprises five states: Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and Sikkim.
The workshop was attended by CARA CEO Bhavna Saxena, Secretary of the Department of Women, Child Development and Social Security Uma Shankar Singh, State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities Keerthishree G, Director of Social Welfare Jharkhand Kiran Pasi, and Director and Member Secretary of the Jharkhand State Child Protection Society Bijay Kumar Sinha, among other senior officials.
Addressing the gathering, Saxena highlighted the progress achieved through focused outreach and engagement with stakeholders. She emphasised the need for sustained collaboration to overcome barriers that delay adoption and strengthen support for prospective adoptive parents.
She also stressed that continued awareness initiatives and a sensitive, child-centric approach were essential to helping more children with special needs find permanent families.
Uma Shankar Singh called for moving beyond awareness campaigns towards sustained, result-oriented action to ensure that children with special needs receive equal opportunities for family life, care and belonging. He emphasised the importance of collaboration among child protection authorities, healthcare professionals and adoption agencies to translate commitments into tangible outcomes.
Representatives from State Adoption Resource Agencies, Specialised Adoption Agencies, Child Care Institutions, District Child Protection Units, Child Welfare Committees, healthcare institutions and child protection organisations participated in the discussions.
Deliberations covered medical assessments, legal and procedural requirements, financial considerations, grievance redressal mechanisms and inter-departmental coordination. Participants stressed the need to strengthen links between healthcare institutions and child protection systems to ensure timely medical evaluations, appropriate care planning and smoother adoption procedures.
Group discussions examined region-specific challenges and explored practical measures to expand outreach, improve institutional capacity, remove procedural bottlenecks and provide better support to children throughout the adoption process. Stakeholders were also encouraged to develop actionable and time-bound recommendations.
A short documentary featuring a successful adoption involving children with special needs was unveiled during the workshop. The film highlighted the role of family-based care in providing children with emotional security, dignity, stability and a lasting sense of belonging.
With the Ranchi consultation, CARA completed the fifth workshop in its series of regional consultations, following earlier meetings in Rajasthan for the Northern Zone, Assam for the North-Eastern Zone, Madhya Pradesh for the Central Zone and Maharashtra for the Western Zone.
The recommendations from the Eastern Zone workshop are expected to guide future initiatives to improve adoption procedures, strengthen coordination between healthcare and child protection systems, and expand family-based rehabilitation opportunities for children with special needs across the country.
CARA reiterated its commitment to promoting inclusive, child-centric adoption practices, emphasising that every child deserves the opportunity to grow up in a safe and supportive family environment.
