Launch of Report titled “The Situation of Aftercare Youth in Delhi” by Deputy CM

Press Release: Launch of Report titled “The Situation of Aftercare Youth in Delhi” by Deputy CM, Shri Manish Sisodia and Shri Ramesh Negi, Chairperson, Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR)

Date: 24-12-2018

Udayan Care with the support of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) and MakeMyTrip.com launched a research report with the aim of developing evidence-based programmes and practices for Aftercare in Delhi. Designed as an exploratory research, “The Situation of Aftercare Youth in Delhi” study was conducted with care leavers as the primary stakeholders, and government functionaries, private service providers, professionals and institutional duty-bearers as key-informants.

Deputy CM, Shri Manish Sisodia launched the report at a meeting held at the Delhi Secretariat today. The meeting was also attending members of the DCPCR, CWC Chairpersons and secretaries of various Delhi Government Departments. The Dy CM said that the Delhi Govt will provide all help that it can to make sure the benefits reach the people.

The report’s conclusive findings clearly establish the need to make aftercare programming in Delhi more robust and effective for the youth leaving child care institutions across Delhi. Aftercare interventions in almost all domains – mental and physical health, housing, education, skilling and employment, financial and legal literacy, social and interpersonal relationships require comprehensive restructuring in light of the findings.

Key findings of the study conducted by Udayan Care in partnership with DCPCR:
There is a lack of implementation of Aftercare provisions as envisaged under the Juvenile Justice framework in Delhi
Most care leavers in Delhi are unable to access adequate housing, health services, skills, employment benefits and social security
Median monthly income for earning care leavers was 12,000 INR, which is less than the minimum wage (13,896 INR) for an unskilled worker in Delhi
There is no tracking/follow-up mechanism for care leavers in Delhi
Most care leavers did not have a Voters’ ID card, excluding them from the political process entirely. Obtaining legal documents of identification is especially problematic leading to missed opportunities

Releasing the report, Shri Ramesh Negi – Chairperson, Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said, “Care Leavers are the strongest youth who have faced adversities as children and we all need to support them to enhance their capacities and turn them into finest and economically contributing citizens of this country”.

Dr. Kiran Modi, Founder-Managing Trustee, Udayan Care said,” Having worked with Children and CCIs for over 25 years, we realized that children who are in NGO space, may be getting Aftercare once they exit children’s home but what about their general ecosystem. A little bit of research showed that Aftercare is an area which really needs attention and that’s where the desire to do a complete research to understand the challenges and gaps in Current Aftercare Practices and policies emerged. Fortunately, DCPCR agreed to the urgent need for such a study and I am very proud to say that we have successfully completed this study in Delhi. Now we have scaled up this study to other States of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Rajasthan. Hopefully it is really going to help in developing proper systems and policies for the Aftercare youth and will benefit all the Care Leavers who have not been prioritized in the current scenario.”