Wait for adoption longest for special needs children: Data

Children: Nearly two-thirds of children waiting for adoption in India are those with special needs, even as the overall adoption numbers have seen a record rise over the years, government data shows.

According to the Union Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry’s latest annual report accessed by PTI, 3,684 children were declared legally free for adoption in 2024 and 2,177 were available for placement through the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA)“. Of the 2,177 children, 1,423 or 65 per cent were those with special needs.

Despite sustained efforts and awareness campaigns to encourage adoption of children with special needs, official records accessed by PTI through an RTI query show that the numbers remain much lower.

Special needs adoptions peaked at 401 in 2018-19, plunged to 166 the following year, and the number has since remained between 300 and 370 annually.

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In 2024-25, 328 children with special needs were adopted, including a child listed in the “other gender” category — a first since 2014.

However, according to the report, India’s overall adoption ecosystem saw a significant boost in 2024-25, with 4,515 adoptions — the highest since 2015-16.

India recorded 4,266 adoptions — 3,802 within the country and 464 overseas placements — in 2024. These included 3,074 adoptions of orphans, abandoned or surrendered children; 425 by relatives; 215 by step-parents; and 29 through foster care, the report stated.

Among inter-country adoptions, 93 children were placed with Overseas Citizens of India, 59 with Non-Resident Indians, and 306 with foreign nationals.

The report also noted significant structural changes in the adoption system.

Following a Supreme Court directive in late 2023, CARA established an Identification Cell in July 2024 to ensure that all children in Child Care Institutions (CCIs) were registered on the CARINGS portal.

This led to 11,372 new registrations last year, with 13,712 children listed across five categories — orphan, abandoned, surrendered, no visitation and unfit guardians/parents — as of December 31, 2024.

To support this expanded ecosystem, the number of specialised adoption agencies rose from 495 to 698, covering 588 districts. Child Welfare Committees increased from 480 to 665, and the number of District Child Protection Units stood at 756.

Interestingly, the number of CCIs came down to 5,192 from 6,150 due to closures and data clean-ups.

CARA has also been holding awareness campaigns to promote the adoption of older and special needs children. In 2024, 364 special needs children were “reserved” by prospective adoptive parents, showing cautious but growing interest.

The foster care track gained momentum too, with 29 foster adoption pre-approval letters issued to provide permanency to children already in family foster care.

The help desk of the upgraded CARINGS portal, with new grievance-handling features, logged nearly 65,000 calls and resolved over 2,000 complaints during the year.

In a push for family-based care for older children, CARA launched a Foster Care platform on the CARINGS portal in late 2024. The system allows online registration and matching of children with Prospective Foster Parents (PFPs) through District Child Protection Units (DCPUs).

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Financial support for foster families is being provided under Mission Vatsalya, alongside awareness campaigns to encourage participation.

CARA has been promoting foster adoption under the Adoption Regulations 2022, allowing children placed in foster care to transition to permanent families after two years, subject to legal and consent requirements.