Brighter Future for 4500 Orphan children in India

One would expect that at least when the child has reached an institutional framework/NGO, the child would be provided with a reasonable level of care, nutrition, education and protection. However the ground reality is somewhat different.
CSA has been working with Jasoda Anath Ashram (JAA) Children’s Home since 2008 with a view to improving overall childcare conditions. Gaps in the areas of health & hygiene, awareness amongst children regarding hygiene, personal care
etc., nutrition, education support, infrastructure, staffing and CCI capability were evident and needed immediate attention.
Jasoda Anath Ashram is registered under The Societies Registration Act, 1860 and is also registered under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000. There is serious crunch with respect to finances and due to lack of available funds, the building infrastructure lacks basic amenities such as separate wings for girls and boys, washroom facilities, individual beddings, separate room for caretaker, proper storage facilities etc.
The JJ Act Audit. This tool was developed by an NGO in association with UNICEF. This is an effective tool in evaluating several standards of care at CCIs. Various criteria basis which CCI evaluation is done are as follows -
Management & Staffing
Physical Facilities & Safety
Protection & Safeguarding
Health & Sanitation
Nutrition
Education & Recreation
Psychosocial Care
Life Skills & Vocational Training & Placement
Case Management
Exit Preparation & Follow Up

Each criteria is drilled down further and then a score per criteria is arrived upon which then totals to an overall score.
JJ Act audit was undertaken at the Jasoda Anath Ashram in May 2014 and they scored only 7.5 points on a scale of 90. This CCI was clearly lacking on several
fronts which came up during the audit. They neither had any idea of the JJ Act and its requirements nor was there any resource person available who could guide them. CSA worked together with the management, trustees and staff of Jasoda Anath Ashram to address ‘red’ flag issues and several interventions listed below were taken up as a result of this. A follow up JJ Act audit was done in February 2015 (post 9 months) and the score recorded was 40. There has been a whopping improvement by 433% in the overall scores for Jasoda Anath Ashram indicating a significantly measurable positive impact in raising the overall standards of care & protection for children residing at this CCI.
Today Jasoda Anath Ashram offers a much better environment and facilities to the children who reside therein. There have been significant enhancements in the overall infrastructure, management style & day to day tasks carried out. Children
have access to better heath, hygiene, nutrition, space, education support & utilities; their knowledge on several topics related to personal health & hygiene and protection & safety has improved too.