Institutional Child Care Homes: The Promises, Perspectives and Problems
Abstract
Institutional child care homes provide shelter and support to children who are without family support. They have a long history and were initiated as philanthropic organisations. Over the years their number went on escalating and more and more children started getting accommodated in such institutional care homes. Children growing in institutional care homes fall into different categories on the basis of their separation or missing of family care. Different perspectives lie at the root of institutional care homes. Over the years these institutional care homes are increasing in number both at the global and the national level. But they have many times failed to stick to their promises. Multiple problems grapple them and obstruct their smooth functioning. Keeping all these in view, the present article has tried to analyse the institutional child care homes from the point of the promises they make, the perspectives that govern them and the problems encountered by them. All these are done from a global to the national perspective. The study has a special focus on the institutional care homes of India with its problems.