The Department of Social Welfare of the Cabildo of Lanzarote has designed a special campaign on the island to support the Canarian Family Foster Care program to promote the reception, care and temporary attention on the island of Lanzarote for children who are currently under the protection of the Autonomous Community and who, for various reasons, cannot temporarily remain with their biological family.
The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Pedro San Ginés (CC), and the Minister of Social Welfare of the Institution, Maite Corujo (PP), wanted this Wednesday to make a "call to the solidarity of Lanzarote and La Graciosa" so that all those families on the island who have the possibilities and who want to voluntarily access to be a host family, can do so through this Family Foster Care program of the Government of the Canary Islands.
"Currently, Lanzarote has about 50 places in children's homes and there is not enough family bank to temporarily host these children who, for various reasons, cannot be temporarily with their biological families; that is, their needs and care are not guaranteed in their own environment, so the coexistence with a host family is proposed as the best alternative to avoid being admitted or remaining in the network of homes and children's centers", the councilor detailed.
The president pointed out that "the ultimate goal is for these children to find a family that provides them with the warmth, care, education and attention they need so that for a while they can improve their quality and experience of present life, always with the aim of family reunification, once their parents solve the situation and the circumstances that caused the separation." In no case, they stressed, "it is an adoption, so it is a very conscious act that requires the generosity of host families towards these little ones."
Provide them with a better life for a while
Likewise, they conveyed the need to publicize this program in Lanzarote, to try to give a family home to these children, as an exceptional and legal measure of protection by which the custody of these children is delegated to a person or family, obtaining this the full participation in the life of the host family, assuming the obligation to watch over him, care for him, feed him, educate him and provide him with comprehensive training for a certain time.
Within this Program, this campaign is launched at the island level in order to invite Lanzarote families who are willing to temporarily host a child in their family to learn what they could do for these little ones. "It is about providing them - for a while - a better life outside a children's center, where many of them remain, thus guaranteeing the right of these children to live in a family environment."
Through a documentary report presented this Wednesday, real testimonies of these families, of the administration technicians and of the experiences lived and expressed by the minors themselves who have gone through these circumstances of living in a children's center and in a host family have been offered.
"A challenge that would undoubtedly be very difficult to achieve without the collaboration and commitment of all those families, extended and unrelated, who until now have made a gesture of enormous generosity on the island by offering children who need it the warmth of a home, although from the administrations we do everything possible so that if they enter a center or children's home they are as well as possible", said the president of the Cabildo, who took the opportunity to congratulate all the current families on the island who host these children, the parents who are also making the "efforts and sacrifices" to reunite their family environments, and the councilor, Maite Corujo, for the work carried out in the area of minors, as well as the team of the Council and technicians of the area "for the sensitivity and the work developed in this matter".
Types of reception
Family foster care can be in an unrelated family as an alternative to residential foster care, considering this possibility when, after the separation of the minor from his parents, he lacks an extended family or is not suitable to receive it; or specialized, which offers children who have special needs and who are in a situation of helplessness, the opportunity to live with people or families prepared to develop this type of foster care, guaranteeing their comprehensive development, while the family problem is resolved, or more stable or permanent alternatives are found, when their return to the family environment of origin is not viable.
The special needs of the minor are considered to be the necessary therapeutic care for presenting life experiences that have left sequelae in the minor; disorders of the bond and attachment, assessing the period of residential foster care if applicable; be a group of siblings; have special health needs or have physical, mental or sensory disabilities.
Urgent foster care is also distinguished, aimed mainly at children under six years of age, which will last no more than six months while the family protection measure that corresponds is decided.
Duration
It will be of a transitory nature, either because the reintegration of the minor into his own family is foreseen from the situation of the minor, or while a protection measure is adopted that has a more stable character such as permanent family foster care or adoption. In any case, the recovery time of the parents and the needs of the minor will be assessed.
Temporary foster care will have a maximum duration of two years with the ultimate goal and objective that the minor can return to his family unit, with subsequent assessment depending on the circumstances.
Throughout the family foster care process, children will maintain the bond with their parents through face-to-face and/or telephone contacts that will be organized by the professionals of the public entity or collaborating entity to whom it is delegated.
Who can be a host family?
People who live alone, couples with or without children can be welcomed and who throughout this process will be accompanied by professionals from the public entity.
Aid, coverage and expenses of the minor
There will be technical support from the first contacts with the minor and throughout the process after the formalization of family foster care by the public entity.
For this, there is a team of professionals made up of Social Workers, Psychologists and Educators who will also offer a monthly financial compensation for the duration of the family foster care process. The economic amount will be established by the Order that regulates the economic compensation of family foster care of minors in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands that is established based on the needs of the minor. It is estimated at an average of 20 euros per day to cover these expenses and another amount, stipulated in said Order, for minors with special needs who require the provision of some other service.
Process and requirements
People from Lanzarote interested in being a host family should contact 012 or go to the Department of Social Welfare of the Cabildo of Lanzarote where they can obtain more information and advice on this program, through the Sumas Association, a collaborating entity of the Government of the Canary Islands with this program.
Those people who are interested in being foster families must go through a process that will help them make the decision about their offer. Likewise, families who are interested in foster care, once the training cycle is completed, must formalize their application to the competent administration, despite which the suitability study will begin through individual and family interviews, psychological tests, as well as home visits, in order to determine family suitability.
Families declared suitable are included in the Registry of foster families of the Canary Islands and will remain in the situation of availability to be able to welcome these children. Once the procedures have been formalized, they will receive throughout the foster care process the necessary advice and technical support from the very beginning of the training until the end of the foster care process.
Among the requirements, it is requested to have the necessary resources to be able to assume the expenses of maintenance, education and others derived from this family foster care, as well as to have the availability to attend to the needs of the minor, care for him, educate him and provide him with comprehensive training. They must also facilitate the relationship of the minor with the biological family since at all times priority will be given to family reunification and collaborate with the technicians in achieving the objectives set in the intervention plan with the fostered minor.
