In 2015, political parties reached an almost historic agreement on child protection: that children under 6 years of age would not grow up in residences but in families (whether their own, those of their loved ones, or someone else's). , where you can receive that personalized attention, showered with love and full of values, that everyone needs to develop.
It was an almost historic norm because it left open the window for the autonomous communities, which are those with powers in matters of social services, to adapt the time to promote family foster care.
But time passed and, given the evidence that the law was not complied with and was not going to be complied with, in 2022 a new commitment was signed to ensure that these children grow up in a family environment. The result? That the number of children under 6 years old in residences has grown compared to 2021 to reach 1,068 children, of which 557 babies, 11% more than the previous year.
According to the latest data collected by the State Family Shelter Association (Aseaf), corresponding to December 31, 2022, the majority of communities fail to comply with the 2015 law, while clinging to the plan signed in 2022 (action plan against sexual exploitation of girls, boys and adolescents in the child protection system) that gives a deadline to obtain residences without children before the end of 2026 (and no children under 10 years of age in 2031).
Only two communities comply with the standard, Aragón and Cantabria, while the rest continue to house children in residences where, despite the care of professionals, it is almost impossible to give the child the care, especially emotional, that they require. .
And the communities that clearly fail to comply with the 2015 law? In the lead, once again, Catalonia, with 263 (24% of the total number of minors housed in residences in its territory), of which 167 are babies under 3 years of age. These children represent 30% of the minors who live institutionalized throughout Spain, says Aseaf.
They are followed by Andalusia with 172 (16%) and Madrid with 118 (11%). "Although the Principality of Asturias also draws special attention, in which as of December 31, 2022, there were 78 boys and girls under 6 years of age in residential care, representing 22% of its total of 348 minors growing up in centers, very much above the national average, which is 6%,” they point out from Aseaf.
The lack of foster families is one of the reasons why homeless children enter shelters. That is, at least, what the autonomous communities use. Although childhood experts assure that if we work on it, there will be no shortage of foster families. But to do this, it is necessary to invest in informing and raising awareness among citizens. “There are many people who are willing to open their home to a child, to give them love and affection, to raise them and to help them face the difficult situations in which they find themselves,” point out experts in this matter.
But, furthermore, it is not understood from an economic point of view either, since a place in a juvenile center costs about 3,000 euros per month, which is at most what a foster family receives per year.
“There is no explanation except that for them it is much more comfortable to put a child in a residence than to find a host family. Finding families involves action and putting plans in motion, however, putting them in residences is a quick action,” says Adriana de la Osa, project coordinator of the State Family Shelter Association, an entity that has been fighting for decades to reduce the institutionalization of children. children because of the serious consequences that living in that environment entails for them.
The objective that the Government and the autonomous communities have set (theoretically) is to “deinstitutionalize” minor services (also, dependency services) and put an end to the “institutional culture.”
According to the State Strategy for the Rights of Children and Adolescents 2023-2030, the objective is to put an end to impersonal institutions, which “impose a rigid routine, segregate people from the rest of the community, attachment and affection are seen limited, they do not allow the care and personalized attention essential for the development of childhood, nor do they offer the sufficient and appropriate psychosocial treatment that a boy or girl who has suffered violence or abandonment needs.
How does living in a residential center affect you? Growing up in an institution affects the well-being and development of children doubly. “On the one hand, the dynamics of the institutional culture itself negatively impact children and, on the other, repairing the damage suffered prior to institutionalization requires emotionally available reference attachment figures that develop better in a family environment versus to an institutional one,” says the aforementioned strategy.
In addition, it harmfully affects the psychological, emotional and physical development of childhood, including attachment disorders, cognitive and developmental delays, and a lack of social skills that then imply multiple disadvantages and vulnerabilities during adult life. “Childhood in institutions, as in other environments, also suffers violence, with institutionalization helping to reproduce the cycle of violence: institutionalized boys and girls are more likely to be victims of violence, be aggressors or harm themselves,” tells the strategy. Almost 1,100 children under 6 years of age currently live in residential centers.
