A total of 28 newborn babies were placed in foster care last August in the Canary Islands after their mothers renounced their care at the time of birth, a figure that "had never occurred," according to the regional director general of Child and Family Protection, Sandra Rodríguez, reported this Monday.
Rodríguez explained before the Commission of Study on Child Poverty of the Parliament of the Canary Islands that this is a situation that has particularly caught the attention of the General Directorate, although she pointed out that none had to be admitted to a residential foster care resource, as the foster family bank was used for all the babies.
She also indicated that some of the mothers come from the protection system itself or have mental health problems, a circumstance that, she said, leads to a review of what actions have been taken so far and what needs to be corrected to prevent these situations from recurring.
The director general pointed out that strengthening family foster care is one of the priority lines of child protection policy and, in this regard, stated that the Canary Islands have 1,761 minors in a situation of abandonment, of whom 995 are in family foster care, 56.5% of the total.
The objective is to raise this percentage to 70%, although Rodríguez insisted that the protection measure must be decided based on the best interests of each minor and their individual situation, which is why residential foster care remains necessary in certain circumstances.
In this regard, she explained that control of the foster family bank for unrelated families has been recovered and an emergency family bank has been created, with the aim of preventing newborns from having to enter residential resources, except in exceptional situations.
Rodríguez pointed out that expanding family foster care requires not only attracting families but also offering them support, training, and financial assistance.
The director general explained that in 2025, approximately 39,230 minors received attention for risk situations in the Canary Islands, of whom 10,500 were attended by the protection system.
She argued that child poverty is directly related to household vulnerability and called for a cross-cutting approach involving employment, housing, education, health, and income policies, in addition to specific child protection actions.
A network for mental health and addiction care
The Director General also defended the creation of a specific network for child and adolescent mental health and addiction care in light of the impact these pathologies are having on the child protection system and warned that some families are giving up custody of their children due to a lack of resources to care for them.
Sandra Rodríguez insisted that it is necessary to create sufficient places to treat minors with mental health problems because they are affecting the foster care and protection network for children, just as sufficient places are needed for them to be treated once they become adults.
The Director General assured that there are families who "can't take it anymore," that a private mental health place in the Peninsula can cost up to 6,000 euros per month and that her department is assuming the cost of some of these places.
Rodríguez also reported that the General Directorate contributes seven million euros annually to local councils for child and family care teams and is studying legal formulas to make this funding multi-year.
Regarding the transition to adult life, she announced the launch this year of 200 new places to care for young people, which are in addition to existing ones through collaborating entities and island councils.
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