Social welfare
Orphan or vulnerable child needs care
An orphaned or abandoned child's care, scholarship or foster arrangement is handled by the district child protection unit.
Start here
Report the child to the district child protection unit or the Child Development Programme Officer of the block, with the place where the child is.
Who is responsible
A child without a guardian is presented before the child welfare committee, which decides the placement — a shelter home, a foster family or adoption as the law provides. What the reporter must provide is the place and condition of the child, while the committee handles the legal process of declaring the child fit for care.
Important condition: An informal taking-in of an orphan, however well-meant, creates no legal relation; only the committee can place a child in foster care or adoption.
The ladder to Patna
Set your district to see local office numbers
You
Your home, village, or ward — where the problem is.
Start here
Report the child to the district child protection unit or the Child Development Programme Officer of the block, with the place where the child is.
Block
Child Development Programme Officer (CDPO)
Officer responsible for child protection, Anganwadi services and child welfare at block level in Bihar.
State
Social Welfare Department, Bihar
State social security pensions, disability certification support and welfare scheme delivery outside the SC/ST and backward-class departments.
State
Government of BiharPatna · state headquarters
State government; departments deliver citizen services through ServicePlus and department portals.
If that does not work
- 1
Report with the place and condition of the child
Open official page - 2
Ask for the child to be produced before the welfare committee
Open official page - 3
For scholarships or benefits, approach the block office with the committee order
Open official page
Sources and evidence
- [1] Social Welfare Department, BiharThe Social Welfare Department administers child protection including committee placement and foster care in Bihar.
- [2] NFSA — Bihar state PDS linksThe food security mission covers supplementary nutrition for children including orphans.