Child Welfare Committees — Policy Reforms

Entry	Year	Description	Impact
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2021	2021	This amendment introduced several key changes to the JJ Act, 2015. It reclassified certain serious offenses against children, making them non-cognizable. Crucially for CWCs, it transferred the power to issue adoption orders from civil courts to the District Magistrate (DM) or Additional District Magistrate (ADM). It also mandated that DMs monitor the functioning of Child Care Institutions (CCIs).	For CWCs, the primary impact was the streamlining of the adoption process, with DMs now authorizing adoption orders, though CWCs retain the critical role of declaring a child legally free for adoption. This aims to reduce delays in adoption. The increased oversight by DMs on CCIs also impacts CWCs' coordination and monitoring responsibilities, emphasizing greater accountability in the child protection system.