SUPPORT, ADVOCACY & MENTAL HEALTH INTERVENTIONS FOR CHILDREN IN VULNERABLE CIRCUMSTANCES AND DISTRESS

• Recently, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has launched the 2nd phase of the SAMVAD programme. The second phase was launched on the completion of one year of programme.
• The programme is aimed at mental health outreach for children who are abandoned and orphaned, child survivors of trafficking, or in conflict with law.
• Earlier, the government had announced a special “PM-CARES for Children” scheme for all those orphaned due to Covid-19

Important points:

• Stands for: Support, Advocacy & Mental health interventions for children in Vulnerable circumstances and Distress (SAMVAD).
• The initiative is funded by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• It is led by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS).
• The NIMHANS is the apex centre of mental health and neuroscience education. It operates autonomously under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• Recently, on the request of the Ministry of Home Affairs, NIMHANS, issued a set of guidelines on the management of mental health issues of the prisoners and prison staff.
• It is a national initiative and integrated resource that works in child protection, mental health and psychosocial care of children in difficult circumstances.
• It encompasses a specialized training curriculum on childhood trauma, interventions for children in conflict with the law, forensics in child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health.
• Education and mental health support to children with special needs, protection and care in the context of adoption.
• The initiative is providing coping mechanisms for children in distress by training close to 1 lakh stakeholders comprising Child Protection Functionaries, tele-counsellors, educators, law professionals among others.

Mental Health

• According to the WHO, mental health is ‘a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.’
• Like Physical health, Mental health is also important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT