Launched in 2015, the Foster Care India Manifesto appeals to governments and child protection organizations across India to champion family-based care for children who would otherwise grow up outside a family.
It reflects our belief in a continuum of care that puts the best interest of each child first.
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Family Preservation
Strengthen the family so children can remain with the people who already love them.
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Kinship Foster Care
Support relatives who step forward to raise children in need of care and protection.
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Non-Kinship Foster Care
Open approved family homes for children whose kin cannot be located or supported.
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Adoption
Facilitate legal adoption pathways that give every eligible child a permanent family.
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Aftercare
Stand by older children as they transition out of care into independent adult life.
A Right to a Family
The Manifesto calls on governments and child protection organizations across India to back family-based care over institutional care. It is part of Foster Care India's wider work in advocacy, capacity building, research, and direct practice.
Published as a press release titled "Foster Care India Launches Manifesto to Support Every Child's Right to a Family" in January 2015, the document frames family-based care as a practical, rights-based response for children in need of care and protection.
The Foster Care India Manifesto represents a foundational call to action, asking governments and child protection organizations across the country to rethink how vulnerable children are cared for. Rather than allowing children to grow up outside a family setting, the manifesto champions family-based alternatives that respect each child's need for love, stability, and belonging. It lays out a clear vision where every decision about a child's future is guided by what serves that child's best interests above all else. This document is not merely a statement of ideals but a practical roadmap for shifting systems, policies, and mindsets toward a more compassionate and child-centered approach to protection and care.
At the heart of the manifesto lies a commitment to family preservation, which means strengthening families so children can remain with the people who already love them. When a family faces hardship, the first and best response is to provide support that keeps the family unit intact. Where preservation is not immediately possible, kinship foster care offers the next layer of protection, enabling relatives to step forward and care for children in need. This approach recognizes that extended family bonds are a powerful resource, and that children thrive best when they can stay connected to their cultural and relational roots, even when their immediate parents cannot care for them.
For children whose own families and relatives cannot provide care, non-kinship foster care opens the door to approved family homes where trained, compassionate caregivers offer stability and nurture. This model stands in stark contrast to institutional care, providing children with the individualized attention and sense of permanency that only a family environment can offer. The manifesto envisions a full continuum of care options, from prevention and preservation through to adoption and aftercare, ensuring no child falls through the cracks. It is a hopeful, practical vision that calls on all stakeholders to work together in building a society where every child grows up safe, loved, and supported within a family.
A Call for Collective Support
The Manifesto invites state actors, civil society partners, and the wider public to align around a shared standard: every child should grow up in a family, whether their own, a kinship home, a foster family, or through adoption.