THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: If life offers a second chance, no one deserves it more than teenagers implicated in serious crimes. It is this realisation that has made the Social Justice Department to embark upon the most ambitious community-based juvenile reformation project ever attempted in the country.
Called ‘Psychosocial Care for Children in Conflict with Law’ (PCCCL), the project will be launched in the first week of August on a pilot basis in three districts – Kozhikode, Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram. PCCCL is unique as it addresses not just the child but also the family. It involves not just psychological help but also social assistance. There will be regular follow-ups, every three months the progress of the child, and his family, will be recorded.
During the pilot phase, 400 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 will be brought under PCCCL’s wing. PCCCL is implemented with the support of NIMHANS, the country’s premier mental health and neuroscience institute. The groundwork - training for stakeholders like police, social justice officials, and the legal profession – has already been completed.
The reformation process will be handled by NGOs. Two NGOs for Thiruvananthpauram and Kozhikode and one for Palakkad have been selected for this. PCCCL's philosophy is not to isolate the child from his family. “The child is only the symptom, the root cause mostly lies with the family,” said Kavitha, a NIMHANS research scholar and project coordinator. “We will check for any social deficiencies in the family and then draw up a support plan based on various social welfare schemes of the government,” she said.
The solution differs with each child. “If one has parental issues, another could suffer from isolation by peers, yet others from learning difficulties. So the response strategy will be different for each child, and will be detailed in the ‘individual child care plan’ for each child,” Ms Kavitha said.
