The rehabilitation and social reintegration of a child shall begin during the stay of the child in a children’s home or special home and the rehabilitation and social reintegration of children shall be carried out alternatively by (i) adoption, (ii) foster care, (iii) sponsorship, and (iv) sending the child to an after-care organisation.

1. The primary responsibility for providing care and protection to children shall be that of his family.
2. Adoption shall be resorted to for the rehabilitation of such children as are orphaned, abandoned, neglected and abused through institutional and non-institutional methods.
3. In keeping with the provisions of the various guidelines for adoption issued from time to time by the State Government, the Board shall be empowered to give children in adoption and carry out such investigations as are required for giving children in adoption in accordance with the guidelines issued by the State Government from time to time in this regard.
4. The children’s homes or the State Government run institutions for orphans shall be recognised as an adoption agencies both for scrutiny and placement of such children for adoption in accordance with the guidelines issued under sub-section (3).
5. No child shall be offered for adoption-
   1. until two members of the Committee declare the child legally free for placement in the case of abandoned children,
   2. till the two months period for reconsideration by the parent is over in the case of surrendered children, and
   3. without his consent in the case of a child who can understand and express his consent.
6. The Board may allow a child to be given in adoption-
   1. to a single parent, and
   2. to parents to adopt a child of same sex irrespective of the number of living biological sons or daughters.

1. The foster care may be used for temporary placement of those infants who are ultimately to be given for adoption.
2. In foster care, the child may be placed in another family for a short or extended period of time, depending upon the circumstances where the child’s own parent usually visit regularly and eventually after the rehabilitation, where the children may re urn to their own homes.
3. The State Government may make rules for the purposes of carrying out the scheme of foster care programme of children.

1. The sponsorship programme may provide supplementary support to families, to children’s homes and to special homes to meet medical, nutritional, educational and other needs of the children with a view to improving their quality of life .
2. The State Government may make rules for the purposes of carrying out various schemes of sponsorship of children, such as individual to individual sponsorship, group sponsorship or community sponsorship.

The State Government may, by rules made under this Act, provide-

1. for the establishment or recognition of after-care organisations and the functions that may be performed by them under this Act;
2. for a scheme of after-care programme to be followed by such after-care organisations for the purpose of taking care of juveniles or the children after they leave special homes, children homes and for the purpose of enabling them to lead an honest, industrious and useful life;
3. for the preparation or submission of a report by the probation officer or any other officer appointed by that Government in respect of each juvenile or the child prior to his discharge from a special home, children’s home, regarding the necessity and nature of after-care of such juvenile or of a child, the period of such after-care, supervision thereof and for the submission of report by the probation officer or any other officer appointed for the purpose, on the progress of each juvenile or the child;
4. for the standards and the nature of services to be maintained by such after-care organisations;
5. for such other matters as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying out the scheme of after-care programme for the juvenile or the child;
   
   Provided that any rule made under this section shall not provide for such juvenile or child to stay in the after-care organisation for more than three years;
   
   Provided further that a juvenile or child over seventeen years of age but less than eighteen years of age would stay in the after-care organisation till he attains the age of twenty years.

The State Government may make rules to ensure effective linkages between various governmental, non-governmental, corporate and other community agencies for facilitating the rehabilitation and social reintegration of the child.