Social workers and psychologists accompany the intervention process at all times with these volunteer families who can welcome a child or adolescent into their home.
For a decade, the Corporation for Support for Children and Youth at Social Risk “Llequén Cachapoal” has been developing an intervention program based on working with foster families for children and adolescents (NNA) from the city of Rancagua. This Specialized Foster Family (FAE) program seeks to temporarily accommodate children and adolescents whose rights have been seriously violated and who, due to a court decision, must be separated from their biological family environment.
The goal in Llequén is to reestablish the rights of minors in a temporary family environment that provides them with support, care, security and protection. For this, the comprehensive care of its professionals is vital, who constantly intervene strategically with the children and the foster and caring families, and in turn, articulate the institutional networks necessary for the success of its mission. “A child whose rights have been violated cannot live with his or her parents or with the adult who violates them. If a court so decides, the first thing we look for is the extended or direct family so that it does not cause the child to be uprooted, since it has been proven that uprooting is another violation of rights. We work with that family. For example, if the child is sent to his or her grandmother, the court will send him or her here and we will interact with those grandparents and with that child on a temporary basis. This is because the goal is for the child to return to his or her family of origin at some point. But if this family or the immediate family violates the rights of the children and adolescents again, we look for other possibilities, thus avoiding them going to a residence or an adoption process. One of these possibilities is external foster families (FAE), who have no blood relationship with the child, but who come to the program spontaneously and voluntarily to be evaluated,” explained Viviana Cabezas, social worker of the program. “The court again asks us if we have a family with the conditions for each child or adolescent. We have foster families from two months old to adolescents of 13 or 14 years old, they can be siblings depending on the case.”
VOLUNTEER FAMILIES
Today, this organization is seeking to recruit families who join voluntarily, since, according to their experience, there is always a shortage of them. This is not an adoption, but rather a transitional process that, according to FAE Llequén’s experience, does not exceed 12 months of foster care. There may be possibilities of an adoption at the end, but ruling out the possibility that there is no one from the family of origin who has the skills to foster this child or adolescent. All of this must always be determined by a court.
To be a voluntary foster family, you must meet certain requirements, such as being over 18 years old, not having a criminal record, not being disqualified from working with children, having a stable income and the willingness to participate in an evaluation process, which can last two or three months, to assess the family’s capacity and dignity. “If the family is qualified and suitable to foster, we work on the rest of the aspects here, since they will always have psychosocial support from day one,” says Viviana. “From the moment the court order is issued and the child arrives at their foster home, there is a state subsidy that goes directly to the FAE in order to ensure their upkeep.”
SUCCESS STORY
Rossana Sánchez (45), from Rancagua and a Special Education Educator, who works at the Ricardo Olea school in Rancagua. Today she has been fostering a nine-year-old girl since November 2023. She is single and was always interested in this initiative, but she did not believe she could do it because she was not married, she thought. “A year ago I saw a report on the news talking about the foster care program and there they mentioned that anyone could apply, whether married or single. So I found out here in Rancagua and I was received by the director of the program who explained to me what the process was like, what the objectives of the program were, what it meant to also be a foster family. From the first day I felt extremely welcomed and welcomed. Some time later they contacted me, after an induction process. There are months of evaluation, they come to the home, they know everything, my support networks, and according to that evaluation, they tell me who I have the most skills with. “As I am an educator, I always work with children between 6 and 13 years old and I know what their needs, strengths, etc. are,” says this volunteer.
The little girl, who has been caring for her for about 8 months, came from a nursing home, “so there were some moments of adaptation, both for her and for me. At first it was about adapting to different routines, but she didn’t just suddenly arrive at my house without knowing us. We had some time beforehand for that, it was a gradual process until she arrived at my house.”
At first, fears about receiving a child with these characteristics are normal, but the program’s professionals intervene. “They prepared me from the beginning, and with the current pair of professionals we address many situations. I worry about strengthening her, for example, her academic skills, emotions, that she feels safe with me, that she has the confidence to discuss situations, to give trust, love, that she feels capable of doing things. She sees me as her aunt. There is a lot of affection between the two of us today.”
She doesn’t know how long the girl will continue to care for her, but she knows that she will soon be with a blood relative. “She is very clear that at some point she will go to live with her aunt. In fact, visits are taking place and she will stay with her for a few days. We have prepared for that step. I know that at some point there will be a separation in front of the child in my care. That is very clear to me. But the emotionality that will happen at that moment will depend on how you handle the grief of the separation,” says Rossana.
Finally, she assures that being with an established family that gives security, love, self-confidence, affection and rules, changes the life of the child who is taken in immediately, “but it also changes your life. All the love that one can give to this person is great, to change their future, as well as their present. Feeling that there is a person who wants to take care of them, who wants to protect them, who can take them out of that place where all their rights are violated,” is a great act of love, corroborates this educator.
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