UNICEF Argentina and Entre Ríos province government requested support from RELAF in order to boost the technical guidelines used for the launch of the Solidary Families Programme, particularly those regarding the design of the Programme's foster care model.

This required the conduction of a technical meeting, which took place on March 15 and included the participation of: COPNAF Entre Ríos representatives; Matilde Luna, María Sánchez Brizuela, Federico Kapustiansky and Elisa Totino, from RELAF; Graciela Dalesio, Director of Rights and Programmes; Fabiana Villanueva, Head of the Solidary Families Programme; and Marta Peralta, psychologist for the Programme's technical team.

We expect to keep on providing support to this programme, not only during its previous stages but also during its full implementation.

During the last two years, we have been carrying out technical cooperation projects along with UNICEF Argentina in two Argentine provinces: Corrientes and Tucumán. By using the Protocol for the prevention of abandonment, unnecessary separation and institutionalisation of young children, new public policies were achieved in both provinces. In Corrientes, this process was led by COPNAF, while in Tucumán it was guided by the province's Directorate for Childhood, Adolescence and Family.

First, diagnoses regarding the situation of institutionalised children were carried out in both provinces together with local authorities and high representatives from the Judiciary, the healthcare and education systems, and the Secretariat for Human Rights and Citizen Engagement, among others. Next, a Protocol for the prevention of abandonment and institutionalisation of young children was produced and, once it was validated by local authorities, provincial professionals were trained on its application: in all, 1 virtual and 5 in-person trainings for the technical teams were conducted during the semester. This period's work has proved very fruitful: local teams showed a great commitment to the implementation of these necessary changes.

We will keep you posted on the progress of this technical cooperation in our future newsletters.

Within the technical cooperation project that we are currently undertaking in Corrientes province alongside UNICEF Argentina, on May 8 we launched our learning platform, the CEN (Centre of Excellence for Children). The launch was made during a support activity for the previous training on the implementation of the Protocol for the Prevention of abandonment, unnecessary separations, and institutionalisation of young children, organised by COPNAF.

This activity included the participation of operators and professionals (mostly social workers, psychologists, and lawyers) from different areas (health, education, justice, police, and academicians, among others).

We invite you to read this important news on the reach of the Corrientes province programme for the Prevention of abandonment and institutionalisation of young children. The programme’s action protocol was turned into a draft law by Javier Sáez, provincial deputy of the Partido Popular (PP, People’s Party), who presented it in parliament. You can find the article here (in Spanish).

Universal Child Allowance (Asignación Universal por Hijo, AUH)

On June 29, Matilde Luna, RELAF’s Director, and part of her team were present at a meeting of the Committee of Senator Advisors. Matilde Luna spoke about the importance of having the AUH reach children and adolescents currently living in full-time residential institutions.

Nowadays, the AUH is received only by children in parental care, with the condition of their parents not having formal income and submitting proof that their children have access to health and education. In RELAF, we understand that this allowance is a right of every child, not only of some of them. In this sense, we proposed to change this law in order to have all children under residential care be able to receive the AUH, with the condition that the institutions that house these children provide proof that the allowance received is being used to engage in deinstitutionalisation processes, which are necessary to restore these children’s right to family life. If these changes are approved, children in foster care could benefit from the allowance as well. Because of this, we strongly support the initiative by the National Senator for the Misiones province, Sandra Giménez.

In addition to our presentation, other speakers took part in the meeting and talked about the situation of deinstitutionalisation in the region from their own experience and areas of work: Miguel Ángel Molina (Ombudsman for the Protection of the Rights of the Child of Misiones Province), Victoria Martin (Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of Hope and Homes for Children), and Martin Punaks (Global Director for Training and Advising of Lumos). All speakers agreed that the allowance is very important to carry out deinstitutionalisation processes.

We expect to have positive results on this matter in the short term.

During the first three months of the year, there were several breakthroughs in the technical cooperation project that RELAF is carrying out along with Corrientes province and UNICEF Argentina.

In February, the training course on the application of the Protocol for the prevention of abandonment, unnecessary separations and institutionalisation of young children was carried out in Corrientes. The activity was organised by COPNAF with support from RELAF and UNICEF Argentina. The 20-hour intensive course had two goals: to provide conceptual tools and methodologies for the implementation of the protocol, and to train the professionals and operators that took part in the activity so that they can themselves train other professionals and operators in the implementation of the protocol (as per the "trainer of trainers" methodology).

The activity included the participation of 38 professionals (mainly social workers, psychologists, and lawyers) from different areas of the public sector (healthcare, education, justice, police, and academicians, among others). It was a small group of key professionals that were especially selected to take part in this training due to their experience, knowledge, and capacity to reach other professionals: this multiplying effect is one of the goals of this training strategy, by which all professionals and teams in the system will be progressively reached.

After finishing this training stage and leaving behind human talent for the implementation of the protocol, the next step for the implementation of the public policy tool is its official launch, which will take place in April.

On November 8 and 9. RELAF and UNICEF Argentina conducted two training and feedback workshops aimed at professionals and authorities from Corrientes Province. These workshops intended to build the tools needed for the application in the province of the Model for the prevention of abandonment and institutionalisation of young children, within the framework of the cooperation agreement between RELAF, NiñoSur Foundation for Human Rights and UNICEF Argentina initiated last September.

The 21 operators and 18 decision-makers who participated in the workshops were trained on the intervention framework, goals and approaches of the Model, and on its main guidelines: the improvement of early care and vulnerable contexts, the causes and consequences of the early deprivation of parental care, and the prevention and eradication of the institutionalisation of young children.

Likewise, the participants made contributions for the validation of the instrumental diagnosis previously developed by RELAF and identified the contents necessary to prepare a protocol for the practices in the province.

In addition, between November 29 and December 2, RELAF visited hospitals and government offices and held meetings in the cities of Corrientes, Goya and Mercedes with authorities and operators from the province's Ministries of Social Development, Health, and Security, from COPRODIS, and from the Judiciary, among others. Aspects key to the development of the protocol were discussed and revised with said persons.

During December, this technical cooperation project was bolstered. On the 12th, Matilde Luna, RELAF's Director, presented the Protocol for the Prevention of Abandonment and Institutionalisation of Young Children. This tool is the result of the joint work carried out by RELAF, UNICEF Argentina, and Corrientes' government within the framework of their technical cooperation agreement. As we mentioned before, the cooperation began last September with the conduction of an instrumental diagnosis, followed by training activities in the cities of Corrientes, Goya and Mercedes during October and November.

Among the high authorities present at the event, we would like to highlight the participation of Dr. Alejandro Chain, Justice of the province's Supreme Court, who stated his and the Judiciary's commitment to carry out this change process.

We have begun the technical cooperation project in the province of Corrientes by conducting two days of workshops on September 14 and 15. These workshops were organised by RELAF, UNICEF Argentina, the Administrative Protection Body of Corrientes province, the Provincial Council on Childhood, Adolescence and Family, and COPNAF.

On September 14, workshops included the participation of a focus group consisting of Executive Branch Officials who are members of COPNAF, authorities from Corrientes’ Judiciary and Public Ministry, as well as representatives of the Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (UNNE, National University of the Northeast). We’d like to highlight the participation of the Minister of the Superior Court, Dr. Alejandro Chain; Secretary for Human Development and Equality of the Government of the Province of Corrientes, Diogenes González; and the President of COPNAF, Lic. Patricia Nazer.

At the meeting on September 15, we continued with a focus group composed of technicians and operators from NGOs, government areas of health, mental health, and COPNAF.

The workshops were held with the idea of exchanging and showing the work each sector performs to prevent the separation of children from their families. Through the participation of key actors, the local reality of the loss of parental care at an early age was discussed, and the identification of resources, services, programs, tools and existing circuits in the province was addressed, in order to gather information for the subsequent construction of a protocol for and circuit of intervention.

That is why we have started the technical cooperation project in Argentina: to develop provincial experiences that can be a reference for the analysis and local application of the Model for the Prevention of family separation. The project will continue at least until June 2017 and will include activities in the provinces of Corrientes and Tucumán.

On April 15, the Misiones province launched its Foster Care Programme during a press conference attended by journalists, legislators, members of the Judiciary, authorities of the province’s Ministry of Social Development, provincial officials, and professionals of the civil society.

In front of a massive turnout, the presentation of the new programme was made by Vice Governor Dr. Oscar Herrera Ahuad, Miguel Molina, National Senator Sandra Giménez, and Matilde Luna, Director of RELAF. In this context, we previously met with Dr. Herrera Ahuad to discuss RELAF's role in improving and supporting alternative care and its prevention in the province. We hope to share results on these developments soon.

On another note, we conducted a training session with the teams of the Child Defense Office and from municipalities of the Province of Misiones. The newly created Child Defense Office operates independently of the provincial government and is developing a special Foster Care programme. The Office is composed of an interdisciplinary team of psychologists and lawyers, among others, and aims at having 8 to 10 foster families available by the end of 2016. This program is a "laboratory" to enhance and improve Foster Care in Misiones province, create standards for the practices, and thereafter nurture local entities with the knowledge necessary for its implementation. From RELAF we support this important initiative, both technically and on spirit.

RELAF met with the Protection Officer of UNICEF Argentina, Manuela Thourte, and her team in order to analyse a future application of the Model for the Prevention of Abandonment and Institutionalisation in that country. We’ll share further details in upcoming newsletters.

RELAF provided support to the conduction of the 'II Inter-Provincial Meeting on Foster Care: Towards the creation of a Federal Network', which took place on October 13. The meeting, organised by Santa Fe province's government, the Municipality of Puan, Ieladeinu, and NEP Foundation, included the launch of the Federal Foster Care Network and provided the basis to begin producing the Guidelines of Good Practice.

These guidelines, which set the Federal Network's minimum action standards, capitalise on previous learnt lessons and experiences carried out in Argentina and aim at strengthening and providing visibility to the programmes intended to restore and guarantee the right of children to family and community life.

On October 14, a Workshop for the ‘Right to Live in a Family and a Community’ was conducted in Misiones.

The event was organised by the Ombudsman for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (Vice-Government of the Province of Misiones), the Chamber of Representatives of the Province of Misiones, and RELAF.

The following key actors from Argentina and Paraguay participated in the event: Ombudsman of the Province of Misiones, Dr. Molina; the Minister for Social Inclusion of San Luis, Federico Tula Barale; Deputy Lidia Batista; Director of Relaf, Matilde Luna; the Paraguayan Minister for Childhood, Carlos Zárate; the Minister for Development of Misiones, Joaquín Losada; the Deputy President of the Commission of Childhood of Misiones; and the Sub–Secretary of Childhood of the Province of Santa Fe, Cristian Allende. National Senator Sandra Giménez, provincial Ministers for Human Rights and Health, judges, deputies of specialised commissions, professionals and directors of NGOs and those of health systems and provincial protection were also present and contributed to the debate.

The objective of the Workshop centred on identifying the necessary adaptation of regulations and laws in light of experiences of foster care and deinstitutionalisation carried out in the region.

The 1st Interprovincial Conference on Foster Care (EIAF) was organised by the Governmental Ministry of Social Development of Santa Fe through an intermediary organisation. The development of foster care programmes in Argentina is of great importance: in a 2011 report, more than 4,000 children were reported to have been integrated into these programmes.

The EIAF's objectives were as follows:

• To evaluate the state of the current foster care situation in Argentina.
• To strengthen practices by means of information exchange, and advocate the creation of a network of foster care programmes which operate at an interprovincial level.

The work and exchange space took place on Thursday the 21st and Friday the 22nd of August at the Roberto Fontanarrosa Cultural Centre, in Rosario. The individuals responsible for the running of this conference were: Joaquín Blanco, Coordination Secretary of Social Policies of the Santa Fe Government; Cristian Allende, Sub-secretary of Family, Children and Adolescents of the Santa Fe Province; and Matilde Luna, RELAF Director.

RELAF assisted in the activity with technical support, and ran the panel on ‘The Coordination of the Child Care and Protection Services' key figures: Latin American and Caribbean experiences’. During the first day of conferences, discussions were held by representatives from San Luis Province (the only region that has laws on Foster Care), Neuquén Province (which was the first province to establish a Provincial Foster Care Management organisation), and Emmanuel NGO, from Buenos Aires. Thanks to region-wide representation at the conference, it was possible to accumulate the relevant experiences of 14 Argentine provinces and numerous NGOs from the region regarding the legal side of fostering and the governmental programmes and NGOs which are linked to alternative care methods with families, and their consequent integration into society.

The second day of activities saw workshops take place, which touched upon the following themes: the process of family selection; intermediate accommodation; reasons, scope and methods; and the goal of fostering, and its complexities. Corazones por la Infancia NGO presented an exposition on its coordination practices with the State of Paraguay, and the results obtained therefrom, such as The Call to Action.

The ample participation given by Argentine provinces in this event needs to be highlighted. Although 14 were in attendance, 6 others that were not able to attend had shown their interest and support. The exchange space for interprovincial experiences reaffirms the need and will to mobilise and guarantee to all children in Argentina the chance to live in a family and community.

RELAF gave a seminar entitled ‘The right to family and community life: its practices and challenges in the reform of the Comprehensive Child Protection System’ in Dolores, Buenos Aires province. The seminar was convened by Dolores’ Institute of Judicial Studies of the city’s bar association, which is under the orbit of the province’s Supreme Court and is presided by Justice Marcos Val. Over 60 people from the Dolores area took part of the seminar, including lawyers, judges, technical teams, and operators from child protection institutions.

In the framework of the technical cooperation activities with the Sub-secretariat of Childhood, Adolescence and Family of the Ministry of Social Development of Santa Fe, RELAF held a series of activities to train and reflect on the practices. They aimed to give continuity to the changes that the province has been making in order to give appropriate responses to children without parental care or at risk of losing it.

The meetings were held in the cities of Rosario and Santa Fe, on April 15-17. The province of Santa Fe has a population of 3,200,736 inhabitants, and hosts big cities such as Santa Fe and Rosario (653,000 and 1,270,000 inhabitants respectively). The childhood governmental body informs that there are 527 children living outside of their families: of them, 396 live in residential care institutions managed by the State and 112 are looked after by foster families. 

Training on the friendly version of the UN Guidelines

Both in Rosario and in Santa Fe, the workshops for the training on the UN Guidelines for the alternative care of children were held using as a tool the Friendly Versions elaborated by RELAF and The Americas and Caribbean Regional Office of UNICEF.

It is important to highlight that the Sub-secretariat had already started to use the friendly versions as part of a project to create standards for residential care institutions, entitled "Standards of quality for the practices and conditions of alternative care in the governmental and non-governmental residential care institutions of Santa Fe".

More than 130 professionals from different levels of implementation and action participated: technical teams that work on the ground, technical teams that work with foster families, and decision makers. There were spheres of training, reflection and exchange on the advances and challenges for the improvement of the province’s comprehensive protection system, having as a framework the UN Guidelines. One of the most relevant breakthroughs has been the closure of the ‘Orphan's Home’ of Rosario, which had existed for over 100 years.

Training and supervision of the technical teams

This part of the activities included the participation of professionals from the technical teams that work with foster families throughout the province. First, a revision of the most significant cases for the teams was made, with the subject of the ‘length of duration of the measure’ being a central subject of the exhibitions. Then, the training revolved around specific concepts of alternative care in the context of foster families: the importance of the family of origin, the prevention of unnecessary separations, family strengthening, the coordination between different teams that intervene in the case, the selection of families, and so on.

The role of the media as a key actor in the social and cultural establishment of the care and childhood models and stereotypes as well as the need to properly use them in the processes of change were highlighted. In this sense, Matilde Luna was interviewed by the newspaper El Litoral. The article is available (in Spanish) here: http://www.ellitoral.com/index.php/diarios/2013/04/20/metropolitanas/AREA-02.html

Closure of the activities with authorities

In order to finish the activities and evaluate them, RELAF held a meeting with the authorities of the Ministry of Social Development of the Province: Joaquín Blanco (Secretary of Coordination of Public Policies), Cristian Allende (Sub-Secretary of Childhood and Adolescence), and Carolina Galcerán (Provincial Director for the Promotion of Childhood). The evaluation of the activities was positive since they allowed different actors to exchange and have an integral vision of the situation of the comprehensive protection system. In this way, it was possible to reflect on the practices together with the professionals of the different social services so that Santa Fe will be able to set up better care alternatives for the children of the province.

Lastly, Matilde Luna participated on behalf of RELAF in the Conference that was held during the first session of the year of the Provincial Council of Childhood and Adolescence, which took place in the city of Santa Fe and was preceded by the governor of the province, Antonio Bonfatti, and had the participation of high governmental authorities, such as the Vice-governor, the Minister of Social Development, provincial deputies, and more.

During the first week of November, Mara Tissera (member of the RELAF working team) and Marta Pesenti (member of RELAF’s Consultative Council) travelled to the city of Salta (North West of Argentina) to develop an agenda related to technical cooperation activities and the production of the Report on Institutionalised Children.

On one hand, the technical cooperation activities with the local government and the alternative care institutions included the conduction of workshops for the application of the friendly versions of the Guidelines, and meetings with the authorities of the Secretariat of Human Rights, which is the governmental body in charge of the child care and protection public policies in that province. It is important to highlight that a reform process has been taking place during the last years with the aim to adequate the practices and policies to the standards of the CRC. It implied the closure of the large-scale institutions that provided alternative care and were under the responsibility of the governmental body in charge of child care and protection issues, promoting residential care facilities of a smaller scale and a bigger openness to the community.

For their part, the two workshops for the implementation of the Guidelines had the participation of 30 operators (carers and nurses) and 20 children from the children’s institutions located in the city: Casa Cuna, Hogar Nazareth, Casita Feliz, Amanecer and Complejo Niño Jesús. As regards the operators, they worked discussing the standards and guidelines exposed in the material as usual, and finally there was a plenary in which they shared their views and concerns. On one hand, it is recognised in general the improvements achieved during the last years through the reform process, and so did the children during their workshop. Among the advances, it was mentioned the reduction in the number of interns in children’s homes and in the length of the alternative care measure, the performance of periodic monitoring, the elaboration of confidential files, the promotion of meeting spaces between the institutionalised children and their families, the encouragement to build stronger links between children and the community, and their access to a person of trust. On the other hand, the main issues and obstacles highlighted by the operators were: the lack of regular training opportunities, particularly as regards the care of children with special needs; the lack of application of a “Code of Conduct” in their work settings; the long stays of children; the internment of children under the age of three; and the lack of support for children leaving alternative care.

Besides, meetings were held with the governmental authorities and with the family strengthening technical team to discuss the main obstacles and issues faced by the care and protection system for its adaptation to the principles of the international documents, such as the CRC and the Guidelines.

Furthermore, the information known through these activities and through the visits to residential care institutions served as input for the elaboration of the Report on Institutionalised Children, which is being produced by a research team formed by RELAF, with the cooperation of UNICEF. Visits were made to the Children’s homes mentioned above, as well as to the Boarding School Carmen Puch Güemes, which is a large-scale institution that houses 350 children permanently and depends on the local Ministry of Education. During those visits, we held interviews with the institutions’ authorities and carers, and we talked to the children.

We thank the authorities, operators and technical team members who accompanied us and contributed to the realisation of these activities. At RELAF, we encourage the reform process that has been developed in the province, and we reaffirm our commitment to keep on helping and accompanying this process.

Next Friday, the informative talk entitled ‘Foster Care: a possible alternative to protect the Rights of Children’ will be held in Puan, Buenos Aires. The event, which will take place at 15.30 in Puan’s Market Cultural Centre, is being organised by RELAF and the Municipality of Puan, via the Local Service for the Promotion and Protection of Children’s Rights. Federico Kapustiansky, RELAF’s Cooperation Manager, will speak at the talk. We would like to thank our colleagues from Puan for their efforts into the organisation of this event and for their long-time commitment to implement foster care in their community.

‘The Right to Community and Family-based Care of Children and Adolescents from Coronel Dorrego’ was the title of a series of technical cooperation activities carried out between October 15 and 17 in this municipality of Buenos Aires. Organised by the Ministry of Social Development, it was also coordinated by RELAF, thus continuing the collaboration in this region as initiated in Puan and Pigüé last year.

The purpose of this event was to allow work to be created with the participation of the local community in order to achieve its commitment to the protection of children deprived of parental care.

In this structure, work was carried out in areas used for the reflection and exchange of information with regard to the advancement and challenges that may be encountered in the improvement of the protection system of Coronel Dorrego. This was achieved together with representatives of the civil society and the press, operators of the Rights Promotion and Protection services of the city and those nearby, adolescents participating in the Envión Programme (of the Ministry of Social Development of the Province of Buenos Aires) and key actors in the prevention of family break-up.

Training activities for the application of the friendly versions of the UN Guidelines were held with the participation of 32 operators from different cities of the region (Coronel Dorrego, Bahía Blanca, Monte Hermoso y Coronel Suarez). Among the obstacles as highlighted by them, they included the shortage of time to reflect on the appropriate strategies suitable for each particular case, the lack of space needed to listen to children’s opinions and views, and the difficulties related to resources needed to provide adequate answers. As a proposal to achieve improvements, the need of better training and a wider participation and commitment of the society was emphasized as well as the necessity to deepen the interconnection and coordination between all the actors that work towards the protection of children’s rights.

Afterwards, the workshop to apply the child-friendly version was carried out with 17 children and adolescents from the Envión Programme, who expressed their desire to have access to spaces of communication and support, as well as their uneasiness due to their mistrust of society. Nonetheless, they remarked on the situations where they could see improvement, such as the existence of new spaces where their voices are listened to.

Meanwhile, a training session was held for the 35 key actors to the prevention of family break-up: professionals from the Education, Health and Rights Promotion and protection services. This represented a reflection sphere on the communication and cooperation between those who work for the prevention of situations that might lead to family break-up.

The local community was a key player, too: an open talk was organised for families, professionals of the local protection services and students of social work, with the participation of the authorities of the Ministry of Social Development of the Municipality. In this space, Federico Kapustiansky (member of RELAF’s working team) and Hernán Lago (member of the network and social worker working with foster families in this region of the province) made a presentation about the process of evaluation and training of the future foster families, and about the importance of the commitment of the whole community in order to achieve improvements in the childcare system. Also, Verónica, a foster mother, described her experience fostering a 16 year old adolescent.

Finally, RELAF’s representatives held a meeting with the authorities of the local Ministry of Social Development to close the activities. The evaluation of this intense agenda was positive: the activities allowed the team to interact with different actors, having a whole vision of the situation of children’s rights. In this way, it was possible to build some lines of action to influence on the development of better alternative care measures.

Relaf, junto a la Subsecretaría de Políticas de Infancia, Adolescencia y Familia del Ministerio de Desarrollo Social de la Provincia de Tierra del Fuego, con el apoyo de la Fundación NEP, ha desarrollado cuatro días de actividades de capacitación y cooperación técnica en Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
Las actividades comenzaron a diseñarse  meses atrás a partir de una solicitud de capacitación del Programa de Acogimiento Familiar realizada a la Relaf. Desde una visión integral en lo que respecta a la garantía del derecho de los niños, niñas y adolescentes a vivir en familia y comunidad, Relaf propuso ampliar la intervención a los todos los programas ministeriales de fortalecimiento familiar y cuidados alternativos, de modo de ofrecer una capacitación integral con enfoque de derechos humanos del niño, haciendo foco en la prevención de la separación y en la provisión de cuidados alternativos adecuados a las necesidades de cada niña, niño y adolescente.
La agenda comprendió las siguientes actividades de capacitación y cooperación técnica:

Jornada “El derecho a la convivencia familiar y comunitaria de los niños, niñas y adolescentes de Tierra del Fuego”. 

En la Jornada estuvieron presentes profesionales de distintos programas del Ministerio de Desarrollo Social, tanto de la Dirección  de Protección Integral de Derechos de Niños, Niñas, Adolecentes y sus Familias como de la Dirección de Instituciones de Protección de Derechos de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes. Asimismo, participaron representantes del Poder Judicial, profesionales de la Dirección Provincial de Salud Mental del Ministerio de Salud,  oficiales de la Policía Provincial, profesionales de gabinetes escolares, entre otros actores claves del sistema.
Compartieron la mesa de apertura autoridades de las tres organizaciones convocantes.

Como introducción a la jornada, Matilde Luna, se refirió a la situación de los niños privados de cuidado parental en Argentina basándose en un análisis del último informe de recomendaciones del Comité de los Derechos del Niño a la República Argentina,  complementando el escenario con los principales hallazgos del “Documento Agosto de 2011: Niñez y Adolescencia Institucionalizada: Visibilización de graves violaciones de DDHH” producido por Relaf, en que se identificaron cinco aspectos especialmente sensibles que deben ser erradicados: la existencia aún de  grandes instituciones; la existencia aún persistente de bebes internados; la preocupante situación de los y las adolescentes que padecen largas permanencias en las instituciones; la gravísima constatación de casos de abuso sexual o maltrato en las instituciones y por último la creciente problemática de niñas y niños fuera de sus países de origen institucionalizados, problemáticas todas de las que Argentina no está exenta.

La presentación de las “Directrices sobre las modalidades alternativas de cuidado de los niños” y las versiones amigables para operadores y niños, realizada por el  equipo Relaf dio orientaciones sobre política y práctica para avanzar desde distintos ámbitos la necesaria adecuación de los cuidados alternativos en Argentina.  María Sánchez Brizuela,  presentó la versión amigable para operadores, la cual es una guía de estándares que orienta su práctica con niños, niñas y adolescentes y sus familias en los distintos momentos y situaciones en las que deben intervenir. Desarrolló el proceso de elaboración, validación y los contenidos de la guía de estándares. De igual manera, Mara Tissera Luna, presentó el proceso de elaboración, validación y contenidos de la versión amigable para niños, niñas y adolescentes y las experiencias de aplicación del material con niños y adolescentes.

En la misma línea de adecuación de las políticas de provisión de cuidados alternativos con enfoque de derechos humanos, Lidia Batista, Subsecretaria de Políticas Sociales y Desarrollo Interior de la Provincia de Misiones y Néstor Álvarez, profesional del equipo del Proyecto “Promoción y restitución del derecho a la convivencia familiar y comunitaria de los niños, niñas y adolescentes de Misiones. Desinstitucionalización y promoción de cuidados alternativos en familia y comunidad”, presentaron el proyecto piloto de desintitucionalización en su provincia, que cuenta con la cooperación de UNICEF, organismo que facilitó la presencia de ambos en las Jornadas de Ushuaia. Lidia Batista introdujo el funcionamiento del Consejo Multilateral de Políticas Sociales y Desarrollo Interior, organismo interministerial y multisectorial y sus iniciativas en políticas de infancia, adolescencia y familiar. Por su parte, el antropólogo Néstor Álvarez, desarrolló los logros obtenidos en los nueve meses de implementación del proyecto piloto de desintitucionalización llevado a cabo en Misiones, en donde existen aproximadamente 600 niños, niñas y adolescentes institucionalizados en 26 hogares. El  proyecto piloto se llevó a cabo con 2 hogares, El Refugio (de Posadas) y Jesús Niño (de Puerto Rico, Gral. San Martín).  

Respecto al acogimiento familiar, el  equipo Relaf  presentó los principales conceptos y etapas de los programas de acogimiento familiar teniendo en cuenta las experiencias de la región.
El Programa de Acogimiento Familiar de la Dirección de Protección de Derechos de Niñas, Niños, Adolescentes y sus Familias de la ciudad de Ushuaia, fue presentado por Marisel Varone y  Gabriela Grosse. El programa tiene actualmente 11 niños y niñas en acogimiento. La modalidad de acogimiento en familia extensa ó referente de la comunidad están muy incorporadas a la estrategia del programa, que primero busca estas opciones y luego, en caso de no ser posible, implementa el acogimiento en familia ajena.

Supervisión de los equiposde los programas de acogimiento familiar de Ushuaia y Río Grande.

Como parte de la agenda de cooperación técnica en Tierra del Fuego, Relaf realizó una supervisión del los equipos técnicos de los Programas de Acogimiento Familiar de Ushuaia y Río Grande.

Las cuatro horas de intercambio y reflexión sobre los casos concretos, sirvieron a los equipos para afianzar conceptos y enfoques de trabajo con cada niño en acogimiento familiar. Este espacio, sumado al de la jornada, hicieron visible la necesidad de que los equipos puedan revisar y mejorar las etapas de convocatoria, selección y capacitación de familias de acogimiento. Relaf ha puesto a disposición material de consulta para  lograr una reformulación de dichas etapas, comprometiendo su cooperación para consultas y orientación. Los programas de ambas ciudades fueguinas se destacan por su continuidad y perspectiva de fortalecimiento y consolidación.

 Intercambio con el equipo de Adopciones de Ushuaia.

Relaf tuvo una reunión de intercambio con el equipo técnico del Registro Único de Adopción de la Provincia de Tierra del Fuego. La misma se concretó posteriormente a la Jornada “El derecho a la convivencia familiar y comunitaria de los niños, niñas y adolescentes de Tierra del Fuego” en la que el equipo del RUA pudo visualizar las semejanzas y diferencias en relación a los procesos de intervención con los niños, niñas y adolescentes y las familias durante el acogimiento familiar y la adopción. Si bien el interés del equipo fue ahondar sobre los procesos de selección y capacitación de los aspirantes a guarda con fines adoptivos, el correr del intercambio entre ambos equipos posibilitaron, además, el logro de un espacio de reflexión y supervisión de la práctica.

Actividad de capacitación para operadores con la Guía de Estándares

Matilde Luna y María Sánchez Brizuela llevaron a cabo un taller destinado a operadores para reflexionar sobre las prácticas con la Guía de Estándares para operadores para el personal de las entidades públicas y privadas que se ocupan de la protección de derechos de niñas, niños y adolescentes. Concurrieron alrededor de 20 operadores de distintos programas del Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y el Ministerio de Salud. 

Se develaron en la actividad situaciones conflictivas en la organización del cuidado residencial: alta rotación del personal (turnos muy cortos), falta de claridad en cuanto a las pautas de vinculación con las familias de origen, desgaste en la tarea. Estas cuestiones que afectan a adultos y niños en las residencias, fueron manifestadas con preocupación por parte de los operadores. Los motivos de esta conflictiva son complejos y merecen una profunda revisión por parte de los decisores locales así  como por parte de los operadores, en su implicación subjetiva y colectiva del rol que los ocupa.

Actividades con niños y niñas en Ushuaia para la aplicación de la versión amigable de las Directrices de Naciones Unidas “Tu derecho a vivir en familia, y a ser cuidado en todas las situaciones que te toca vivir”.

Federico Kapustiansky y Mara Tissera Luna llevaron a cabo dos talleres para trabajar la versión amigable de las Directrices con los chicos en la “Casa de Chicos y Chicas” de la ciudad de Ushuaia. Este es un espacio en el que niños de todas las edades hacen actividades artísticas y talleres de oficios y recreativas, y que depende del Ministerio de Desarrollo Social.
El primer taller se llevó a cabo con niños en situación de cuidado alternativo residencial y en familia de acogimiento. El segundo se realizó con niños de entre 8 y 13 años que concurren a diferentes colegios de la ciudad y participan en un espacio de recreación en la Casa.

Los temas a los cuales los niños les dieron más importancia durante los juegos y debates entre ellos fueron los siguientes:

• La importancia de que los chicos sean informados sobre las razones de por qué pasa lo que pasa en su familia, o se toman ciertas decisiones.
• Los niños tienen una conciencia de la universalidad de los Derechos y de la responsabilidad de todos los adultos (no sólo del Estado) de que se cumplan.
• Le dieron mucha importancia a que sus deseos tengan en cuenta cuando se toma una desición y a que cuando pase algo malo en su casa, haya alguien con quien hablarlo.
• Que en caso de separación:

a) El lugar al que vaya a vivir quede cerca de su familia y amigos.
b) Que, a pesar de que no estén con sus padres, tengan un referente a quien recurrir.
c) Que puedan elegir en qué colegio estudiar, las actividades que quieren hacer, etc.
d) Que se garantice el contacto con los hermanos “porque es lo único que nos queda”.

Por último, cuando se les pidió que eligieran cosas que un chico que iba a ser separado de su familia de origen le podría pedir al juez, ellos eligieron estas:
• Que no sea separado de su casa.
• Que siga viendo a sus hermanos y sus papás.
• Que vaya al mismo colegio que antes (y haga sus actividades).
• Que escuchen su opinión
• Que le den explicaciones sobre lo que está pasando.
• Que le digan la verdad (que no oculten verdades de la familia).
• Estar con una familia todos los días.

Los niños recibieron certificados de participación y copias de la Versión Amigable para ellos. Pidieron también material para compartir con sus amigos.

Además, se realizó  una visita a la Escuela número 3 de la Ciudad de Ushuaia, en donde se entregó el material de las versiones las que formarán parte de la biblioteca. Todas las actividades se compartieron con quienes trabajan con los niños a fin de que se repliquen las los talleres con los niños de las escuelas y otras instituciones locales.

Agradecemos la participación de los niños y la asistencia de Mónica (de la Casa de Chicos y Chicas); a Gabriela Grosse, que acompaña a los niños en cuidados alternativos; y a Daiana y Daniela, las dos psicopedagogas que acompañaron a los chicos de los colegios.

The RELAF team has carried out workshops on the friendly versions of the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children in Argentina. The organisations that took part in these workshops included: the Young Men's Christian Association; Ieladeinu; Familias de la Esperanza NGO; Soles en el Camino NGO; and La Casona de los Barriletes.

We would like to thank Nora Schulman, Executive Director of the Argentine Committee to Monitor the Convention on the Rights of the Child, who facilitated the contact with some of the organisations involved; Henry Chiroque, Coordinator for Save the Children Argentina, with whom we are planning future workshops; and Ieladeinu, which gently made their facilities available to RELAF for the workshops with operators.

The Municipality of Saavedra is committed to develop foster care: the Foster Care Programme Bajo el Ala was established by the Area of Childhood from the Secretariat of Social Development, and it works along the whole territory of Saavedra, based in Pigüé, where the municipal government of the District rules.

The program promotes transitory foster care in the extended family or in foster families that belong to the community, with the purpose of guaranteeing the right to community- and family-based care of children and adolescents who, for different reasons, are not taken care of by their parents, until the situation causing the separation is solved and the children are able to live with them again.

The Programme Bajo el Ala is the only foster care program of the District. RELAF was present in its launching ceremony, which consisted of an open discussion on foster care held at the Deliberating Council. It included the presence of the highest authority of the Municipality, Mayor Rubén Carlos Grenada, and of the Director of the Area of Childhood, Lic. Alejandra Gonzales. The support of the authorities for the Program is very important, and both of them highlighted in their speeches the wide prospects opened up by the program in relation to the provision of family-based alternative care for those children and adolescents in the District that need it, an option that is not available with the formal modality. Moreover, Matilde Luna and María Sánchez Brizuela held a presentation to introduce foster care and the guarantee to community- and family-based care in the region on behalf of RELAF, after which the technical team of the program presented it, expecting that the message would reach all the presents and that future foster care families would come up from this first meeting between the program and the community.

Besides participating in the launching of the program, RELAF held a training workshop with the technical team of the Programme Bajo el Ala, accompanied by all the professional staff (social workers, psychologists and lawyers) of the Secretariat of Social Development. The team responsible for the Programme has prepared and launched the first campaign to call for foster families and it is professionally trained to carry out the processes of selection, training and monitoring of foster families during the first stage of the programme.

We will keep you informed on the advances of this local experience, to which we look forward to contribute for its strengthening and consolidation.

The Workshop Seminar ‘Separation, ruptures, break-ups, discontinuities. Trying to name what is irrepresentable?’ was carried out in Buenos Aires on October 5 by Daniel Moreira, member of the RELAF Latin American Council, University professor and professional at CENFORES, Centre for Training and Research of INAU (Instituto del Niño y Adolescente del Uruguay).

The Seminar was organised by Relaf with the collaboration of the Ieladeinu Programme and the Children and Adolescents’ Rights Council of the City of Buenos Aires.

The call was very successful: the event included the participation of professionals from non-governmental organizations (Campos del Psicoanálisis, Ieladeinu, Caminos del Sol) and governmental organizations (National Secretariat of Childhood, Adolescence and Family and the Children and Adolescents’ Rights Council of the City of Buenos Aires) which are in charge of foster care programmes.

The topic (axis) of the Workshop Seminar revolved around an important difficulty for the professionals involved in the protection of children without parental care, which is the separation from a child, a situation that many times is considered as irrepresentable, unacceptable, incomprehensible and difficult to explain in the light of the existing representations of motherhood, fatherhood and families.

The work was carried out based on film scenes in which the separation or its effects were present. Taking them as triggers for the analysis, we discussed them, including theoretical contributions that contribute to a different analysis of these complex situations.

The Workshop Seminar was very enriching for everybody. The methodology proposed by Daniel Moreira made it possible to create a fluent exchange between the technical teams of the different organisations.

Besides, important conclusions were drawn that reflected the challenges the teams face in their practices with children, adolescents and their families of origin.

The training session ‘The right of children and adolescents to family- and community- based care. Foster Care and other alternatives’ was organized by the Ombudsman's Office for Children and Adolescents of Córboda and jointly promoted with RELAF. It was held on Thursday, May 14 in the seat of the Ombudsman's Office. The issues dealt with during the training session were:

-’Legal and conceptual framework: the right to family- and community- based care and the practices to guarantee it’, presented by Ombudsman María Alba Navarro, RELAF Project Leader Matilde Luna, and the representative of the Family Sub-secretariat for the Woman, Childhood, Adolescence and Family Secretariat, Juan José Castellanos.

-’The importance of the paternal and maternal roles in psychic structuring’, ‘A child's construction: maternal and paternal roles’, presented by Liliana González; and ‘Experiences of Foster Care from children deprived of parental care’ presented by NGO representatives Mrs. Ruth Fontaine de Frete of Programa Nazaret, Mercedes Ansoldo of SOS Children's Villages, and Silvia del Castillo (foster family).

-’Updating on the right to live in a family. Examining the Latin American and Argentine experiences’, presented by Mg. María Matilde Luna and Carlos A. Gallo, member of the RELAF Advising Commission.

When the presentations were over, there was an opportunity for the audience to participate. The participation of local organisations was fruitful and committed to planning future provincial strategies. They were divided into five working groups, which identified obstacles and strengths for the realization of the right of children to family-based care, and presented proposals.

The professionals in the Ombudsman's Office have systematised participants' contributions. The conclusions reached by this team have been uploaded to the Ombudsman's Office web page: www.deninezcor.org.ar

Reciprocal cooperation Agreement between RELAF and the Ombudsman's Office for Children and Adolescents of the province of Córboda.

In the framework of the Training Session and after the opening words, Ombudsman for Children and Adolescents of the Province of Córboda, Dr. Héctor David, and RELAF Project Leader, Mg. Matilde Luna, signed a reciprocal cooperation agreement with the purpose of carrying out activities to promote the right of children to live and grow up in a family. The provincial Ombudsman’s Office is the only body that officially defends ‘children’s rights’ in Argentina. Through this agreement, RELAF intends to encourage the development of a local response by the local actors involved.

Ielandeinu is an organisation of the Jewish community that is derived from the recognition of the plight of children that suffer from abuse. Based on this recognition, this integral programme gives different responses in an attempt to restore the rights of the children, looking to ensure families are capable of protecting them, reducing violent patterns of mistreatment.

The foster programme of Ieladeinu is based strongly on activities to strengthen families of origin and establish, as an alternative, the inclusion of children in children’s homes. In its progressive growth, it has been able to commit families from the community to offer themselves as foster families.

The supervision of RELAF allows for the achievement of different aspects of the execution of the programme, highlighting the activity of the “laboratory of cases”. The aim of this activity is to revise criteria, ensuring the ethic perspective and rights approach in all instances dealing with children and families.

Contact:

Tucumán 3238  - C.A.B.A. - República Argentina
Telephone: (+5411) 4002.0151
Email: ieladeinu@ieladeinu.org
Website: www.ieladeinu.org 

This organisation, with a strong psychoanalytical background, conducts a foster care programme entitled 'Nuevos Lazos' (New Bonds). RELAF has carried out periodic supervisions of the programme with a focus on the criteria used to select and recruit foster families, collaborating in the improvement of the social and clinical criteria used to evaluate potential foster families.

Contact:
Emilio Mitre 71 , Martínez, San Isidro, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina 
Tel: 4793-3212 / 4798-7719 (de Monday to Friday viernes de 9 a 17 hs)
e-mail: info@psicoanalisis.org.ar
Web site: www.psicoanalisis.org.ar

Asociación Dulce Refugio is currently carrying out various projects directed at restoring rights to children and adolescents who live in the town of General Belgrano, where the organisation is situated. Among these projects is the foster care project, which aims to fulfil the right to live within a family and preserve the right to cohabitation through the community to which the children from Belgrano belong to.

The integral supervision of RELAF aims to ensure that those involved in the project can revise the different aspects of the job: clinical, institutional, the deepening of community commitments, etc.

Contact:

Rivadavia 327, 7223 General Belgrano, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
Telephone: +54 2243 455018
Email: dulcerefugiob@hotmail.com