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Public to know more about Sevana Sarana Foster Scheme

by Nadira Gunatilleke

The Department of Probation and Child Care Services will educate the public on the Sevana Sarana Foster Parents Scheme (Sevana Sarana Mapiya Kepakaru Kramaya), a brainchild of late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, which remained dormant for the past several years in order to attract more donors.

The programme helps children of the poorest of the poor, Commissioner of Probation and Child Care Services Ashoka Peiris told the Daily News yesterday.

He said about 30 volunteer retirees and persons with a social service diploma from the National Institute of Social Development selected through advertisements were given special training on child rights and the Sevana Sarana Foster Parents Scheme prior to commencing the campaign.

Special identity cards will be issued to them. Volunteer retirees will work with the child rights promotion officers all over the country and attract more donors towards this scheme. A large number of needy children await assistance of the scheme.

The Sevana Sarana Foster Parents Scheme is a welfare programme implemented for the first time in 1988 for needy school children. Nearly 17,000 school children have received benefits under this programme. The Department invites local and foreign donors to sponsor the upkeep of needy children who are below 15.

When donors send their applications to the Probation and Child Care Department, it selects a child in respect of each donor and advises the National Savings Bank to open a savings account in the name of the child giving the parent or guardian permission to operate the account on behalf of the child. Withdrawals are restricted to Rs.200 per month, and the child will receive this benefit monthly for over three to five years. Not a single cent of this money is spent on administrative work, he said.

According to Peiris, in return, the donor will receive information about the child with his or her photograph. Exchanging letters with the child is also permitted. The donor will also be permitted to send gifts to the child and pay occasional visits under the purview of Probation and Child Care Services Department.

At the age of 18, a child is taken off the scheme, but he or she will continue to make use of any balance in the savings account. The donor may continue to foster the child further at his own will, but it should be restricted only to fostering. This scheme does not provide for adoption.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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