Capacity Building Session for Counsellors and POIC from 17 Observation Homes across the sate of Karnataka

The Centre for Child and the Law (CCL), National Law School of India University, in collaboration with Integrated Child Protection Scheme, Karnataka, organised a two-day training for Counsellors and District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) – Protection Officers in Charge (POIC) in the Juvenile Justice system. The training took place on June 22nd and 23rd 2023, at the Training Centre of National Law School of India University, Bengaluru. The resource persons for the training programme were Dr. Kalpana Purushothaman, Member of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), Bengaluru (Urban) and Dr. Bindiya Shajith, School (Child and Adolescent Psychologist), Allinclusive Foundation. The training provided an overview of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, emphasising the need for a special law for children, recognizing their distinct cognitive capacities, addressing the overlap between children in conflict with the law and children in need of care and protection, adopting a child rights approach, and highlighting the obligations of counsellors in relation to child rights. Additionally, the training covered developmental and child psychology, including the physical, emotional, psychological, intellectual, and social development of adolescents, risk factors of children in conflict with the law, the importance of considering psychosocial factors, and understanding their vulnerabilities. The training was attended by 18 Counsellors and DCPU-POIC representatives from the 17 districts of Karnataka.