Portugal has 356 children in foster families, a “very residual” number in relation to the total number of institutionalized children, and which the Government intends to see increase as a result of the new national campaign for family fostering, presented this Wednesday.
“The objective of the campaign is to raise awareness of the need to have more foster families and not only raise awareness, but also inform”, said the Secretary of State for Social Action and Inclusion, speaking to the Lusa agency.
Clara Marques Mendes stated that there has been a realization that “there is often a lack of information regarding what it means to be a foster family”, which is why the Government chose to bring together the various entities managing the measure in the same campaign, including the Instituto da Social (ISS), Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML) and Casa Pia de Lisboa.
According to the Secretary of State, the objective is to show that everyone is “coordinated for a measure that must be a priority in the issue of reception”.
As of November 18, there were 388 families available to welcome a child and 356 children in a foster family nationwide, including the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores.
A number that, in the opinion of Clara Marques Mendes, “is still quite residual”, despite admitting that it has been growing.
“It is still not what we believe it should be in terms of residential care”, he highlighted.
Data from the CASA 2023 report (Annual Characterization of the Reception Situation of Children and Young People) shows that that year there were 263 children in foster care, which represents 4.1% of the 6,446 children with a foster care arrangement.
The majority, reaching 96%, were institutionalized, including 5,738 in formal residential care, such as shelters, and 445 in other forms of alternative care, such as life support centers, residential homes or special education schools.
Clara Marques Mendes added, based on data from CASA 2023, that the children who were in foster care were “mainly between zero and nine years old”, with cases of families with siblings.
The greatest growth in the number of foster families is seen in the districts of Lisbon and Porto, with Viseu and Setúbal registering that “they began to further develop the response from 2023 onwards”.
The Secretary of State stated that with the campaign the Government hopes to increase the number of children welcomed into families and “make a leap in relation to the 4.1% that is currently the percentage of foster families”, but did not commit to any goal.
“We currently have more than 6 thousand institutionalized children, of the children who have placement measures, and our objective is to considerably reduce these children who are currently in residential care and thereby increase family care”, he argued, highlighting “the effects on the integral and healthy development of the child”.
He added that the campaign “will last throughout the year”, with concrete actions at the level of the different municipalities, being visible both on social media and on posters.
According to the Secretary of State, it is important to explain what a substitute family is, which is a temporary measure and for which families have various supports.
Clara Marques Mendes explained that during the duration of the campaign the measure will be monitored to understand the effects of the action and evaluate any issues that need to be modified.
The Secretary of State also said that the Government has a working group that will, until November 30th, evaluate the three strategies that are related to children’s rights and present guidelines on how they can be improved.
Source: rr.sapo.pt
