Many people still say "orphanage" when they think of a home like PROHACC. The word belongs to the past, and so does the idea. Today, many of the children and teenagers living in care homes have families. What happened is that, for some serious reason, staying at home stopped being safe at that moment.
In this post, we explain what residential care is, who decides on it and what the law guarantees each child while they are with us.
When a child is taken into care
Residential care is a protective measure. It happens when a child's or teenager's rights are being violated and there is no other way to protect them at that moment. It may be a case of neglect, violence or abandonment, among others.
The care home does not make this decision. It goes through the child protection network and the Children and Youth Court, with the Child Protection Council and the Public Prosecutor's Office involved. The home takes the child in and cares for them day to day.
A temporary, exceptional measure
Brazil's Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA) is clear about this. Residential care and foster care are "temporary and exceptional" measures, used as a transition. The goal is for the child to return to their birth family. When that is not possible, the path is a new family, for example through adoption.
That is why care has time limits. Each child's situation must be reviewed by the court at least every three months. And a stay in residential care should not last more than 18 months, unless the judge explains why it is best for the child.
These rules became stronger with Law 12.010 of 2009, known as the National Adoption Law. It reinforced family life as a right and created obligations like an individual plan for each child. Later, Law 13.509 of 2017 shortened the review and stay periods to the ones in force today.
What happens inside the home
Right after the child arrives, the team in charge writes an Individual Care Plan, the PIA. It is a plan made for that child, focused on rebuilding family ties whenever possible.
The ECA also lists principles every care home must follow. Among them:
- preserve family ties and work toward the child going home;
- offer personalized care in small groups;
- keep siblings together;
- avoid moving the child to another institution;
- make sure they take part in community life, with school, neighborhood and friends;
- prepare the moment of leaving little by little.
The Technical Guidelines for Care Services, published in 2009 by CNAS and CONANDA, explain how this should work in practice. They say, for example, that a residential care home should take in no more than 20 children and teenagers. They also say the home should look like any ordinary house in the neighborhood, with no signs marking who lives there. All of this exists so that children grow up with a routine as close as possible to any other child's.
Protecting also means caring for their story
A child in care has been through something hard. Protecting them, here, includes caring for their health, school and food. It also includes helping that child understand their own story, keep in touch with the people who matter to them and feel safe again.
The Technical Guidelines point to another concern: keeping the child from building a self-image shaped by pity. They are someone with rights, dreams and a future, and that is how they should be seen.
Where PROHACC fits into this story
PROHACC is an association founded in 1997 in Perus, a neighborhood of the city of São Paulo. Today we care for about 18 children and teenagers. We have no agreement with the government. The home runs thanks to donations from people and companies who believe every child deserves a safe place while their situation is resolved.
When you support PROHACC, you help keep standing a service the law considers essential, but that should always be a bridge. Our job is to care well during the crossing.
Want to understand better how you can help? See the ways to donate and our campaigns on the site.
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Sources
- Child and Adolescent Statute, Law 8.069/1990, arts. 19, 92 and 101 (updated text on the Chamber of Deputies portal): https://www2.camara.leg.br/legin/fed/lei/1990/lei-8069-13-julho-1990-372211-normaatualizada-pl.html
- Law 12.010/2009: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2007-2010/2009/lei/l12010.htm
- Law 13.509/2017: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2015-2018/2017/lei/l13509.htm
- CNAS and CONANDA. Technical Guidelines: Care Services for Children and Adolescents, 2009 (copy hosted by TJDFT), pp. 13 and 63 to 64: https://www.tjdft.jus.br/informacoes/infancia-e-juventude/informacoes/informacoes/instituicoes-de-acolhimento-1/orientacoes_tecnicas.pdf