Foster care processes begin

During the first trimester of the year, we made several progresses in the Mexico project. Matilde Luna (RELAF's Director) took part in a very intense work schedule with RELAF's local Project Coordinator, Fernanda López. This schedule included meetings with federal and state authorities, with UNICEF's Representative in Mexico, Christian Skoog, and with the foster care pilot programmes teams and other key actors.

Regarding the support to foster care pilot programmes implemented by the Federal Attorney's Office for the Protection of Children and Adolescents, by DIF Mexico City and by DIF Tabasco, RELAF produced a manual for every pilot programme. These tools were presented to the technical teams, which gave their feedback on the document that will guide the procedures. All three teams are in the phase of recruiting foster families and, thus, will begin the foster care processes.

Regarding the federal agenda, RELAF and UNICEF met at the General Direction for Social Integration with the team in charge of the Social Assistance Centres for children, institutions that are key in the development of the foster care pilot plan. Within this framework, several orphanages were visited since the beginning of the project. Support was also provided to the Federal Attorney's Office for the Protection of Children and Adolescents, which is under the direction of Fernando Negrete (Director for the Restitution of Rights to Children), in order to set the strategy to recruit families.

Finally, a day's work was carried out with the teams of DIF Mexico City's residential care entities in order to sensitise them about the effects and harms of institutionalisation, especially on young children.

On a federal level, the issue of migrant children and the implementation of alternative care have been a key point in RELAF's agenda. The protection measures for migrant children and the implementation of a foster care programme were discussed with the Special Protection Commission. This was done by videoconference, which included the participation of the Federal Attorney for the Protection of Children and Adolescents, Dora Giusti (Protection Officer for UNICEF Mexico), Matilde Luna (RELAF's Director) and Vicenzo Castelli (President of the On the Road Onlus organisation). The Federal Attorney's Office team also took part, with the participation of the General Director for the Authorisation, Register, Certification and Supervision of the Centres, Fernando Negrete (General Director for the Restitution of Rights to Children and Adolescents), and Carlos Manzo (General Director of Interinstitutional Relations and Policies).

We would like to make available to you two documents produced by RELAF, UNICEF LACRO and Save The Children: a Handbook of international human rights standards applicable to migrant children and adolescents, and an analysis on the context, service responses and protection policies in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.

In Tabasco, an agenda shared with Vincenzo Castelli was added to the pilot programme agenda, which focused on presenting the Handbook to the team of the Federal Attorney's Office for the Protection of Children and Adolescents and to the members and representatives of SIPINNA (the state's Comprehensive Child Protection System).

Matilde Luna and the expert met with DIF Tabasco's President and with UNICEF Mexico representatives in order to support the creation of an attention model for unaccompanied migrant children in which the foster care pilot programme is complemented with open residential care facilities for teenagers.

In the case of Mexico City, technical assistance has strengthened the team responsible for the pilot project and other DIF Mexico City professionals that work in the areas of prevention and promotion policies.

All three pilot programme teams (the one at federal level, the one for Mexico City and the one for the state of Tabasco) are currently recruiting families.

In addition to this, UNICEF Mexico and RELAF have committed to provide technical support for the implementation of foster care programmes in three states: Campeche, Morelos and Chihuahua.

In the case of Campeche, RELAF and UNICEF met with DIF Campeche's President, Christelle Castañon de Moreno, with her team, with DIF Campeche's General Attorney, teacher Teresita de Atocha Rodríguez Chi, with the Director of the state's Family Development System, Silvia Eloisa Parrao Arceo, and with the Vice Director of the Psychosocial Attention Centre for Children and Adolescents (CAPANNA) and her team. These meetings had the objective of revising the situation in Campeche and preparing the work strategy. On the day of the meetings, we visited two orphanages where children from 0 to 18 years of age live.

Regarding Morelos, RELAF and UNICEF met with Lic. Rocío Álvarez Encinas (General Attorney for the Defense of the Minor and the Family of DIFEM DIF Morelos), with Dr. Amanda de los Ángeles Gil Castañon (Director of the Social Assistance Centre CAS), and with Lic. Celeste García Reyes (in charge of the Unit of Certification and Monitoring of Family Alternatives). During the meeting, the situation of Morelos was analysed in order to provide support to the foster care pilot programme focusing on children from 0 to 3 years of age and on children that have been living in institutions for a long time.