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or years, the country did not have a detailed guideline that could regulate a foster care system for children whose parents are no longer able to care for them.

But in mid-October, Indonesia finally issued Government Regulation (PP) No. 44/2017 on foster care for children, which includes a list of requirements for foster parents and child placement.

And on Friday, the government began campaigning for the new policy in a bid to ensure a safe and nurturing environment for foster children.

“Every child has the right to be taken care of by their parents, but if a situation arises that forces the children to be separated from their parents, then it must be done by considering the children’s best interests,” Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa said on Friday.

“The PP ensures that the government will protect the children and guarantees they will get the best, nurturing environment.”

Under the PP, which serves as an implementing regulation for the 2014 Child Protection Law, foster parents must first gain permission from their respective region’s social agency before they are allowed to take in a child.

These parents must also seek approval from a government approved childcare institution and undergo a series of assessments.

On Friday, about a hundred representatives from foster care institutions and NGOs, as well as a number of children’s rights activists took part in the campaign to raise awareness on foster care.

Bhakti Nusantoro, the Social Affairs Ministry’s head of legal affairs, said the new regulation was essential to introducing a more comprehensive fostering system. Unfortunately, the existing system is susceptible to being exploited by couples who use their foster children for financial gain, or even by child traffickers.

Before the new policy was issued, a foster child would automatically be brought to a childcare institution or to a foster home without being registered or documented.

“Without proper documentation, it would be easier to manipulate the system. It would also prevent the children from getting an education or having access to healthcare in the future,” Bhakti explained.

More than half a million foster children live in some 5,000 listed foster homes across the country; 30 percent of them still have one parent, while 60 percent still have both parents.

Regional social agencies would also monitor foster parents regularly after they have taken in a child, said the Social Affairs Ministry’s head of social service, Puti Chairida.

“Some people might say that they want to take care of [foster] children, but whether they are really capable of it is another matter,” Puti said.

Tata Sudrajat from the Sayangi Tunas Cilik Foundation, among the institutions partnering with Save the Children, welcomed the new regulation.

“This is not only about the good intentions to take care of these children, but also about how to better protect them,” she said.

Although a family is considered a critical environment for a child’s development, the government has acknowledged foster homes as a “solution” to children from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.

Unfortunately, many foster homes and childcare institutions have failed in the past to properly care for them, Tata said.

“This new regulation also reminds us that giving up children is the last resort and should only be done if placement in a foster family is impossible,” he said.