11. This Part relates to the powers and duties of the Director in relation to children received by him into his care under section 3 or section 64 of this Law and to children who by an order of any Court under the Juvenile Offenders Law have been committed to his care as a fit person and references in this Part to a child in the care of the Director are references to a child for the time being in the care of the Director under section 3 or section 64 of this Law or for the time being committed as aforesaid to the care of the Director as a fit person.
12.-(1) Where a child is in the care of the Director it shall be the duty of the Director to exercise any powers with respect to him so as to further his best interests and to afford him opportunity for the proper development of his character and abilities.
(2) In providing for a child in his care the Director shall make such use of facilities and services available for children in the care of their own parents as appears to the Director to be reasonable in his case.
13.-(1) Subject to the provisions of this section the Director shall discharge his duty to provide accommodation and maintenance for a child in his care-
(a) by boarding him out on such terms as to payment by the Director and otherwise as the Director may, subject to the provisions of this Law and Regulations thereunder, determine; or
(b) where it is not practicable or desirable for the time being to make arrangements for boarding out, by maintaining the child in a Children’s Home provided under this Part or by placing him in a voluntary home the managers of which are willing to receive him.
(2) A child in the care of the Director who is over school age may be accommodated and maintained in any hostel which is wholly or mainly intended for persons who are over school age but have not attained the age of twenty-one.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing the Director from making use, in the case of any child of any such facilities and services as are referred to in subsection (2) of section 12, and for that purpose arranging for his accommodation and maintenance in any suitable manner not specified in the foregoing provisions of this section.
(4) Where under this section the Director provides for a child by maintaining him in a home or hostel not provided by the Director, the terms whether as to payment by the Director or other matters upon which the child is so maintained shall be such as, subject to the provisions of this Law, may be agreed between the Director and the persons providing the home or hostel.
14.-(1) The Governor may, by Regulations under this Law, make provisions for the welfare of children boarded out by the Director under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 13.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), Regulations under this section may provide-
(a) for the recording, by the Director, of information relating to persons with whom children are boarded out as aforesaid and persons who are willing to have children so boarded out with them;
(b) for securing that children shall not be boarded out in any household unless that household is for the time being approved by the Director as may be prescribed by the Regulations;
(c) for securing that where possible the person with whom any child is to be boarded out is either of the same religious persuasion as the child or gives an undertaking that the child will be brought up in that religious persuasion;
(d) for securing that children boarded out as aforesaid and the premises in which they are boarded out will be supervised and inspected by the officers of the Welfare Department, and that the children will be removed from those premises if their welfare appears to require it.
15.-(1) The Director may support or provide, equip and maintain Children’s Homes for the accommodation of children in his care.
(2) The Director may discharge his functions under the foregoing provisions of this section by making arrangements with other authorities or local bodies for the provision of homes for children in his care and such arrangements may contain provisions for grants-in-aid or for the Director to contribute to the other authorities or local bodies for the children in their care.
(3) The Governor may make Regulations as to the exercise by the Director of his functions under this section and the conduct of homes provided thereunder and for securing the welfare of the children in the homes, and Regulations under this subsection may in particular-
(a) impose requirements as to the accommodation and equipment to be provided in homes and as to the medical arrangements to be made for protecting the health of the children in the homes;
(b) impose requirements as to the facilities which are to be given for children to receive a religious upbringing appropriate to the persuasion to which they belong;
(c) require the approval of the Director to the construction, acquisition or appropriation of buildings with a view to the use thereof for the purposes of homes or to the doing of anything (whether by way of addition, diminution or alteration) which materially affects the buildings or grounds or other facilities or amenities available for children in the homes;
(d) provide for consultation with the Director as to applicants for appointment to the charge of a home and empower the Director to prohibit the appointment of any particular applicant therefor, except in the cases (if any) in which the Regulations dispense with such consultation by reason that the person to be appointed possesses such qualifications as may be prescribed by the Regulations;
(e) contain provisions for limiting the period during which children may remain in accommodation provided for the temporary reception of children, and may contain different provisions for different description of cases and as respects different descriptions of homes.
16.-(1) Notwithstanding any agreement made in connection with the placing of a child in a voluntary home under this Part, the Director may at any time, and shall, if required to do so by the managers of the home, remove the child from the home.
(2) No child in the care of the Director shall be placed for more than two months in a voluntary home which does not afford facilities for him to receive a religious upbringing appropriate to the persuasion to which he belongs.
17.-(1) The Director may, with the consent of the Governor, procure or assist in procuring the emigration of any child in his care.
(2) The Governor shall not give his consent under this section unless he is satisfied that emigration would benefit the child and that suitable arrangements have been or will be made for the child’s reception and welfare in the country to which he is going, that the parents or guardians of the child have been consulted or that it is not practicable to consult them and that the child consents:
Provided that, where a child is too young to form or express a proper opinion on the matter, the Governor may consent to his emigration notwithstanding that the child is unable to consent thereto in any case where the child is to emigrate in company with a parent, guardian or relative of his or is to emigrate for the purpose of joining a parent, guardian, relative or friend.
(3) The expression “parents or guardian” in subsection (2) shall be construed in accordance with the provisions of section 9.
18.-(1) The Director may cause to be buried the body of any deceased child who immediately before his death was in the care of the Director.
(2) Where the Director exercises the powers referred to in subsection (1) he may, if at the time of his death the child had not attained the age of sixteen years, recover from any parent of the child any expenses incurred by him under subsection (1).
(3) Any sums recoverable by the Director under subsection (2) shall, without prejudice to any other method for the recovery thereof, be recoverable as a civil debt.
(4) Nothing in this section shall affect any enactment regulating or authorizing the burial of the body of a the recovery thereof, be recoverable as a civil debt.
19. The Director may provide hostels for persons-
(a) who are over twelve years of age but have not attained the age of twenty-one;
(b) who are, or have been at any time after ceasing to be of twelve years of age, in the care of the Director,
for their accommodation near the place where they may be employed, or seeking employment or in receipt of education or training.
20. The Director may make payments to any parent or guardian of or other person connected with a child in his care in respect of travelling, subsistence or other expenses incurred by the parent, guardian or other person in visiting the child or attending his funeral if it appears to the Director that the parent, guardian or other person would not otherwise be able to visit the child or attend the funeral without undue hardship.