THE JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE

AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN)

ACT 2015
Rehabilitation and Social
Reintegration
Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration of
the Children
• The core principle of the Juvenile Justice (Care
and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 is
change and recovery and not punishment.
• The premise behind redemption is that people
are not born criminals and an opportunity to
be welcomed back to society should always be
offered. It also stops them from transforming
into violent offenders.
.

• Each child who comes into contact with the

criminal justice system is a child in challenging
situations that have at some stage dropped
out of the safety net and has been deprived of
a chance to have a safe and stable childhood.
• Instead of prosecuting them as an offender,
rehabilitation aims to bring the change in
juveniles who are in conflict with the law
through schooling or therapy.
Cont.
• The law also makes sure that any child leaving
a child care institution at the age of eighteen is
provided with financial assistance to promote
the reintegration of the child into mainstream
society. 
Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration

• The recovery and social inclusion of children is

done ideally by family-based treatment such as
return to the family or guardian with or
without guidance or support, or adoption or
foster care.
• Every attempt is made to retain the siblings
placed together in institutional or non-
institutional care. Only if not being left
together is in their best interests. 
Cont.
• The method of rehabilitation and social
integration is followed in observation homes
when the child is not released on bail and held
there by the Board’s order in special homes or
in a place of protection or with a suitable
individual.
Cont.
•  Section 39 of the Act specifies that children
who need treatment and security who are not
kept in families for any reason as such, on a
temporary or long-term basis, can be placed in
an institution licensed for such children or
with a suitable individual or facility. 
Cont.
• According to Section 46, the rehabilitation and
social integration process shall be followed
wherever the child is placed. Those in need of
care and support and live in institutional care
or in special homes or places of security may
receive financial assistance when they reach
the age of eighteen. This is to help them
reintegrate into the mainstream.
 Restoration of a child in need of care and
protection
• The primary goal of any Children’s Home, Specialized
Adoption Agency, or open shelters is the
rehabilitation and protection of a child.
• The Children’s Home, Specialized Adoption Agency,
or an open shelter has to take all such measures that
are deemed appropriate for the recovery and
security of a child who is temporarily or
permanently removed from his or her family
environment and is kept under their care and
protection. 
.

• According to Section 40, the Competent

Authority under its discretion can return any
child in need of care and security to his or her
parents, guardian, or fit person after assessing
their worthiness to take care of the child. The
committee can also provide them with the
correct directions regarding anything related
to the child.
Registration of childcare institutions

• All organizations, whether operated by a State

Government or voluntary or non-
governmental organizations have to
accommodate children in need of care and
security.
• These institutions should have valid
registration under the Juvenile Justice Act. 
.

• The State Government has to assess and

record the institution’s ability and function at
the time of registration and register the
institution as a Children’s Home, Open Shelter,
Specialized Adoption Agency, observation
home, special home, or as a place of
protection.
.

• Upon receiving a request for registration of an

established or new institution housing
children in need of care and security, the State
Government may grant provisional
registration for a maximum duration of six
months.
• The government has to grant this within one
month from the date of acceptance of the
request, to bring such an institution under the
purview of this Act. 
• Section 41 specifies that the registration
period of an institution is till five years, and
gets renewed after every five years. The State
Government may cancel or withhold the
registration of institutions that do not provide
rehabilitation and reintegration services as
stated in Section 53 and the State Government
shall manage the institution until it is renewed
or granted registration again. 
• The licensed child care institutions have the duty to
accept children, subject to the institution’s ability as
directed by the Committee, whether or not they
obtain grants from the Central Government or the
State Government.
• Inspection committee appointed pursuant to Section
54 shall have the power to inspect any institution
that houses children, even if not registered for the
purpose of deciding whether such institution houses
children in need of care and security or not.
Penalty for non-registration

• Any individual or persons in control of an

institution that houses children in need of care
and in conflict with the law if they do not
adhere the provisions, they shall be punished
with imprisonment for a period of one year or
a fine of not less than one lakh rupee or both.
Given that every 30 days delay in registering is
deemed as a separate offence. 
 Open shelter

• The State Government may create and maintain as

many open shelters as may be necessary by itself or
by voluntary or non-governmental organizations,
and such open shelters have to be registered as such
in the manner specified.
• The open shelters operate on a short-term basis as
a community-based facility for children in need of
residential assistance with the goal of shielding
them from violence or holding them away from life
on the streets.
 Foster care

• Children in need of support and security may

be taken into foster care, including community
care by order of the Committee, after
following the protocol as may be
recommended in this regard, especially in a
family which does not include the biological or
adoptive parents of the child or in an
unrelated family recognized by the State
Government as appropriate for this purpose. 
• The allocation of the foster family is centred
on the capacity, purpose, skill, and previous
experience of taking care of the children. All
efforts shall be made to hold siblings in foster
care together unless it is best for them not to
be together. 
• If the children were placed in foster care
because their parents were found to be
incompetent or unfit by the Committee, the
parents of the child may visit the child in the
foster home at frequent intervals, unless the
committee feels that such interactions aren’t
in the child’s best interest.
• The foster parents are responsible for
supplying the child with schooling, safety, and
nutrition, and are responsible for maintaining
the child’s general well-being in the manner
prescribed.
Cont.
• The Committee will perform the inspection of
foster families each month to ensure the
child’s well-being, and if a foster family is
found to be failing in child care, the child shall
be removed from that foster family and
transferred to another.
• Although, a child cannot be given for long-
term foster care. 
 Observation homes

• Under Section 47, the State Government may

create and maintain observation homes for
the temporary admission, treatment, and
rehabilitation of any child alleged to be in
conflict with the law in each district or group
of districts, either by itself or by voluntary or
non-governmental organizations, during the
time period in which inquiry is pending.
Cont.
• A child who is not put under parental or
guardian’s care and sent to an observation
home shall be separated as per their gender
and age, after giving due consideration to the
physical and mental health of the child and
also to the degree of the offence committed. 
 Special homes 

• Section 48 specifies that the State

Government must create and maintain, either
on its own or through voluntary or non-
governmental organizations, special homes
registered in any district or group of districts
as these may be necessary for the
rehabilitation of those who are found to have
committed an offence and who is held there
by the order from the Juvenile Justice Board.
 Place of safety

• According to Section 49, the State

Government shall create at least one place of
protection in a State registered under section
41 to locate an individual over the age of 18
years or a child who is between 17 and 18
years of age and is suspected or guilty of
having committed a heinous crime.
Cont.
• Every place of safety must provide various
arrangements and amenities for these
children or individuals to reside throughout
the investigation process, and also for those
who are convicted of committing an offence.