The centers for minorsThey are institutions that assume responsibility for children and young people for a specific period, have their guardianship and are in charge of their care and well-being. They are in this organization due to different reasons, whether due to the commission of a crime, the inability of their relatives to support them or the death of their parents, among other cases.
In 2020, the total number of minors who were cared for by the public child protection system was 49.171, according to the latest data from the Childhood Observatory. Of those, 16,991 live in protection centers.
The vast majority came to these facilities temporarily, to protect themselves from situations of abandonment, abuse, loneliness or neglect in care, but very few will return to their biological family, so that, for many, the residences will be the most similar to a home that they have until they reach the age of majority, which is when that shelter resource that provides them with accommodation, maintenance, schooling and health care ends.
Why does a child come to live in a shelter?
In general, foster care is adopted as a protective measure when the public entity detects situations of lack of protection of a minor, either because they have declared themselves in a situation of helplessness, because the parents or guardians themselves request it, due to the impossibility of caring for them (voluntary guardians). ) or because it is agreed upon by a judge when legally appropriate (judicial guard). There may also be temporary shelters in these centers when a minor is suddenly involved in an emergency situation that requires immediate attention, and this is what is known as "provisional custody."
What is life like in the centers?
According to the professionals linked to the juvenile centers, what they try is for the boys and girls to lead a life that is as "normalized" as possible. For this reason, upon arrival an educational and care plan is drawn up with objectives that must be worked on.
How long can they live in them?
Protection measures (whether residential or family) are always understood as a temporary solution until the biological family can take care of the child again. For this reason, we usually work with her for the duration of the placement, except in cases where it is decided in advance that reintegration will not be possible. Furthermore, all protection measures have an estimated period and must be reviewed from time to time.
What will become of me at 18?
One of the problems that supervised minors encounter, as indicated, is the moment in which they reach adulthoodand are left out of the protection system.
Is a shelter and a juvenile center the same thing then?
A detention center for juvenile offenders (or center for the execution of judicial measures) is alimited space in which young people serve a measure of deprivation of liberty, in application of theOrganic Law 5/2000, where it is clarified that the educational nature will take precedence over the punitive nature and that the best interests of the minor will always be prioritized.
This Law will be applied to demand the responsibility of people over fourteen years of age and under eighteen for the commission of acts classified as crimes or misdemeanors in the Penal Code or special criminal laws.
A consideration of a minor that will classify him as a subject who is not yet fully responsible for his actions - a social agreement that we have all reached as proof of our maturity as a society - that must mark the actions with them, and that will convert his judicial measure into an “intervention of an educational nature” with which to achieve his “effective reintegration.”
The detention centers for juvenile offenders can carry out judicial measures of detention in a closed, semi-open and open regime, therapeutic detention, as well as weekend stays.
We want to create a shelter for minors who are pregnant or have children, what is the requirement they ask for the house as it should be, thank you