St. Jude India ChildCare Centre is a not-for-profit Section 8 Company established in Mumbai in 2006. We provide free, hygienic accommodation and holistic support for underprivileged children up to the ages of 15 years, and their families, who travel to hospitals in metro cities for pediatric cancer treatment, thereby improving their chances of surviving the disease and leading a full, healthy, happy life.

As an organisation, St. Judes is committed to conducting and governing ourselves with ethics, transparency and accountability, and to this end, we have developed governance structures, practices and procedures that ensure ethical conduct at all levels is promoted across our value chain.

St. Judes believes that every child, irrespective of their economical background, has the right to lead a healthy happy life. Equality across the organisation is one of our core values, and we do not distinguish among our children, families, and staff based on region, caste, or religion. Since children staying at our centres are minors (up to 15 years of age), it is mandatory for them to be accompanied by their parents.   

Our Child Protection Policy ensures that children are safeguarded from all kinds of harm, keeping their best interests in perspective. The policy makes it clear that violation of the policy is unacceptable and nonnegotiable, and will lead to appropriate disciplinary action.

The protection of our children and families is paramount. Our centres are a safe haven for these families who come from smaller towns and villages to live in metro cities during their child’s treatment. Our housekeeping and security staff along with CCTV cameras everywhere in the centres ensure they are well taken care of even when the staff is not around.

While photography in the centres is strictly prohibited, consent is taken by our staff personally from all parents before using their and their child’s images, names, and other details on our website, social media platforms, brochures, AV films, or any other form of media. Discretion is used before sharing these images with anyone outside the organisation. Volunteer Policy ensures all vistors and volunteers follow the correct protocol inside the centres.

In addition to providing a safe space, we strive to create a physical and emotional environment that is conducive for the recovery of children. Treatment for cancer can be extremely taxing and it is very often accompanied by side effects in the form of secondary infection which can be more life-threatening than the disease itself. While many of the side effects, such as hair loss, cannot be helped, some can be either treated or prevented. Prevention of infection during treatment makes a significant difference in the survival rate of children. Our efforts are focused on providing surroundings that are infection free at all times. Our Infection Control Policy has been established to ensure that our SOPs and training are put into practice at all levels and to prevent patients from catching or transmitting infection between patients during their stay at the Centres.

The staff is an integral part of St. Judes and we aim to provide a safe working environment that prohibits any form of sexual harassment through the implementation of the POSH Policy. Any act of sexual harassment or related retaliation against or by any employee is unacceptable. The policy intends to prohibit such occurrences and also details procedures to follow when an employee believes that a violation of the policy has occurred within the ambit of all applicable regulations regarding Sexual Harassment.

Our strict implementation of procedures and policies led to CRISIL awarding us Voluntary Organisation (VO) Grading ‘VO 1A’ for the fourth year in a row in 2022. The grading indicates our  organisation’s ‘very strong delivery capability and high proficiency’.