The HOPE Child Watch programme aims to create a safety net for vulnerable children, through ensuring child protection through Rescue, Rehabilitation, Repatriation and Restoration.
| Total number of beneficiaries (Girls and Boys) | Budget (Rs.) | Supported By |
|---|---|---|
| Approximately | 9,68,468 | The Hope Foundation Joy Global |
The Child Watch programme (including the Night Watch Service) is essentially a city based programme catering to the urban poor. The project covers the jurisdiction of Kolkata Police and the area covered comes under 70 police stations spanning the entire city. The project area runs through Tollygunge, Gariahat, Topsia, Dharmatala, Hastings, Howrah, Moulali, Sealdah, Howrah Bus and Train Station and Sealdah Station. However the programme also caters to individuals from outside Kolkata particularly the suburbs.
Child Watch was initiated after HOPE completed a situational analysis of its operational areas and evaluation of community needs and deprivations. This study revealed a continuing need to provide critical support to vulnerable children, living on the streets.
The Child Watch programme runs day rounds and night rounds to identify children in dangerous and neglectful situations. In the Day Watch Programme, the team conducts rounds, 3 days a week from 8:30am to 12 noon. In the Night Watch Programme, the team conducts night patrol, 5 nights a week from 10pm to 6am. They assist in detoxification of addicted children and identify children who have never been to school or are dropouts. They provide guidance and conduct follow ups on cases of child abuse, child labour and domestic violence to address the child’s safety and overall holistic development.
Number of Beneficiaries :
- Population of 1 lakh approximately
Team Strength :
- 3 Social Worker
- 1 Coordinator
- 1 Accountant
Budget (Rs) :
- 9,88,468
Supported By :
- The Hope Foundation
- 36 street children who have never been to school were admitted to school and have continued with their formal education throughout the year. .
- 85 total cases of vulnerable children were identified; 24 cases were addressed through night rounds and 61 cases were supported through regular field visits during the day. Follow up visits were successfully conducted by the social workers of Child Watch team throughout the year to ensure that the children restored during the year were living in a safe and protective environment.
- The Child Watch team facilitated women in the community to form 15 Women Vigilance Groups. These groups stand against incidents of domestic violence, report incidents to social workers, support victims of violence and discuss ways of prevention.
- 14 Child Vigilance Committees with 75 children were successfully created. These committees help in creating a safe environment for children to speak of abuse and stand in solidarity with each other to fight it.
- 8 vulnerable children were rescued from the streets last year and 7 of them have been placed in a protective shelter. All the children were registered with Child line and the Child Welfare Committee ensuring legal procedures to assist their recovery and rehabilitation.
- After repeated rapport building sessions and meetings, the team convinced 7 shop keepers to stop selling addictive substances to minors.
- 4 addicted children were sent to detoxification centers.
- With the help of regular interventions and awareness 13 employers stopped employing children as waged labor.
Success Stories
Sandeep (name changed) is a small boy who lived on the street, often spending hours alone and forced to fend for himself. He used to beg to survive and to ensure he had a single meal a day. The Police noticed him lying on the street with a head wound and informed the Night Watch team. He was admitted to HOPE Hospital after government hospitals would not admit him due to the extensive maggots in his wound. Sandeep was in a very poor condition and we feared for his life. With medical treatment and care, Sandeep recovered well in hospital and the team began to look at long term options for his care. Unfortunately Sandeep’s parents are not able to take care of him. His father is an alcoholic and his mother is a psychiatric patient. Sandeep was placed in HOPE’s Male Crisis Intervention Center and is recovering well with continued medical and counseling support.
Mita (name changed) has experienced terrible abuse and hardship at her young age and is now recovering gradually with the support of HOPE. When Mita’s mother passed away her father showed no interest to care for her. This could have been because of the fact that she is a special child. She was abducted by a person who called himself her husband. She was abused and was forced into prostitution.
Thanks to the intervention of the local community, they were both taken into custody by the Police and the Police contacted HKF for Mita. Immediate medical treatment was sought for Mita at HOPE Hospital and the CWC and Child Line were informed. Mita worked with a HKF social worker and when she could recall where she was from, she shared that she did not want to go back home. Mita is presently under the care and protection of Hope Kolkata Foundation and has found a home in our Crisis Intervention Center (Female).
Summary of Annual Activity
| No. of night rounds done in the month | 155 |
| No. of cases identified in the month | 47 |
| No. of adult cases identified | 13 |
| No. of child cases identified | 34 |
| No. of cases rescued in the month | 28 |
| No. of adult cases rescued | 6 |
| No. of child cases rescued | 22 |
| No. of General Diary done | 23 |
| No. of FIR done | 2 |
| No. of child produced before Child Welfare Committee | 46 |
| No. of cases provided with first aid treatment | 0 |
| No. of cases referred to Govt. Hospital | 2 |
| No. of times follow up of the case done in the Govt. Hospital | 3 |
| No. of cases referred to Hope Hospital | 11 |
| No. of times follow up of the case done in Hope Hospital | 19 |
| Total no. of patients provided with medical treatment | 0 |
| No. of cases provided with emergency medical support | 0 |
| No. of cases provided with other support | 188 |
| No. of cases referred to CIC / night shelter | 9 |
| No. of cases referred to Child line | 5 |
| No. of cases referred to other organisation | 6 |
| No. of home visits done (before restoration/repatriation) | 10 |
| No. of cases restored | 18 |
| No. of follow up visit done of restored cases | 3 |
| No. of follow up / visit done of the referred cases | 9 |