THE RIGHT TO LIVE IN A FAMILY AND A COMMUNITY WAS THE CENTRE OF TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN SANTA FE, ARGENTINA.

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.