The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), which operates under the Ministry of Women and Child Development, held a major consultative workshop in Pune on 3 September 2026 to discuss ways of improving adoption of children with special needs. The workshop brought together 150 officials and stakeholders from across 74 districts in the Western Zone, which covers Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
What was discussed
The workshop formed part of CARA’s Adoption Awareness Campaign 2025, which aims to promote family-based care for children with special needs rather than institutional care. Participants included officials from State Adoption Resource Agencies, Specialised Adoption Agencies, Child Care Institutions, District Child Protection Units, medical officers and child protection experts.
The discussions centred on several practical barriers to adoption. These included:
- Medical assessment procedures
- Legal and procedural requirements
- Financial considerations
- Grievance redressal mechanisms
- Coordination between different government departments
Participants identified particular gaps in coordination between child protection systems and healthcare services, noting that better alignment could speed up assessments and smooth the adoption process. The workshop also involved group discussions to develop specific, time-bound recommendations to address field-level challenges and improve adoption facilitation.
A documentary film showcasing a successful adoption of children with special needs was screened to illustrate the benefits of family-based care over institutional arrangements.
What this means for you
If you are involved in adoption, child protection work, or healthcare in these four states and the union territory, the recommendations from this workshop are likely to shape how adoption processes work in your region. For prospective adoptive parents of children with special needs, the push for streamlined procedures and better inter-departmental coordination could eventually make the adoption pathway clearer and faster. The workshop signals that CARA intends to make family-based care the norm rather than the exception for children with disabilities.