The declaration of abandonment of a minor implies separating the child from his family, away from those who, for whatever reasons, cannot or do not know how to take care of him. It is the least desired decision and before taking it, the different administrations apply a whole protocol aimed at avoiding that last step in the protection of minors. In Santa Cruz, the Children and Family area is in charge of monitoring the most vulnerable minors, a job in which, so far this year, has ended with the declaration of abandonment of four minors by the Government of the Canary Islands, at the request of the social services of the capital. Another 15 children are waiting for the resolution of this situation of abandonment that has been requested between 2021 and 2022.
Throughout Santa Cruz there are 509 minors who are considered to be in a situation of vulnerability, which means that they are under the watchful eye of the IMAS Bureau for Children and Families. Of these, 345 are in the preliminary investigation phase, or what is the same, their personal, family and environment circumstances are being assessed, to proceed or not to initiate the risk declaration procedure. The latter occurs when the minor is being harmed in her family, personal or educational development, forcing the intervention of the administration. In the capital there are 90 minors who already have an open file to declare them at risk, while 69 are already in that situation.
That a minor is declared at risk means that the City Council intervenes directly with the families, with a program that sets objectives to be achieved, providing them with tools and making resources such as Day Centers or Nursery Schools available to the family. In the case of Santa Cruz, at the moment there are two minors with a proposal to archive the risk file and three more in which the intervention has ceased, either because the protection indicators have decreased or there are other circumstances such as a change of residence or reach the age of majority.
An example of this path is the one followed by the minor who, a few weeks ago, appeared in Santa Cruz in deplorable conditions, malnourished, disoriented, and alone on the street. The minor was declared abandoned by the emergency route, but, before, he had made a long journey within the social services of Santa Cruz, as recorded in the IMAS files. Since his family moved from Madrid to the chicharrero municipality, a follow-up of the boy had begun after receiving the reports from the social services of the Spanish capital. Follow-up that translated into appointments with his mother, to which he almost never went, food aid or financial aid management. They accompanied the family since 2020, a process in which the minor was declared at risk, which led to the activation of an action plan with his mother, which did not materialize due to lack of collaboration.
It was not until it was verified that the child did not start high school that the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office was resorted to in January of this year, to force an appearance by the mother, who attended with her son on February 10, with the objective of incorporating it into the classes. Although he promised to do so, he did not deliver. He was given six appointments, which he never attended, so on March 17 the police location of her mother was agreed with the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office if she did not attend the next appointment. Finally, the police ended up finding the minor in the situation already described. On March 24 the abandonment of the minor was declared.
The councilor for Social Action of Santa Cruz, Rosario González, defends that “the procedure worked and the coordination was carried out, although the outcome was not the desired one.” She recalls that the steps of the intervention are marked by the Minors’ Law, and that “although there may be an urgent procedure, as in this case”, the administration is obliged to follow what the law establishes.
“The prevention of the services of the Santa Cruz City Council is essential”
González defends that “the work that is done by the City Council is very important, which is prior to the declaration of abandonment, especially in relation to preventing a minor, let’s say, from separating from his or her family nucleus, and we do constant work. with the Risk and Childhood and Family teams, through services such as the Day Centers and other resources that we also make available to minors”. He recalls that the declaration of abandonment corresponds to the Government of the Canary Islands and that “we can only request that it be taken because, given the reports, it is the best for the minor, but it is the Government that declares the abandonment.”
