The Council of Tenerife analyze the main challenges in the care of unaccompanied migrant minors during two intense days in the Faculty of Communication of the University of La Laguna (ULL). The experts discuss a new model that the insular area of Social Action focuses on as an example of two new ways. On the one hand, the flats destined for girls when they reach adolescence. On the other hand, the reception of these children when they reach the age of majority so that they achieve the long-awaited integration and do not stay on the street. The island president, Pedro Martín, inaugurates a forum whose objective is to strengthen the foster care network for minors, in which an average of 140 are cared for today, and improve the quality of the services offered
The councilor for Social Action, Marián Franquet, explains that the conference addresses, among other issues, the collaborative work carried out by the Children and Family Unit of the Social and Socio-Health Care Institute (IASS) with international institutions, which has allowed regrouping of minors with their families. The rector of the University of La Laguna, Rosa María Aguilar, also attended the opening ceremony.
The conferences are entitled Keys and challenges in the care of migrant children and adolescents without family references. They intend to analyze the services offered to this group, highlight the innovations introduced in recent years and propose possible future challenges, through the specialization of resources.
“These conferences are due to the new model that the Cabildo de Tenerife is implementing to offer a more personalized service adapted to the needs of each group,” explains Martín.
The president also highlights the recent opening of the first specific center for unaccompanied migrant girls and adolescents, among other actions promoted by the Cabildo in this regard.
Likewise, it thanks the technical staff of the IASS network of centers for the work they carry out, both at the insular level, and in support and cooperation with other organizations in Europe, to provide the best care for minors.
Along these lines, the third vice president and councilor for Social Action, Marián Franquet, highlighted the work that the IASS does with some 140 minors – the quota for Tenerife according to the distribution established by the Canarian Federation of Municipalities – to “ensure that they can have a adequate life project and achieve their integration into our society». In close and direct collaboration with the Autonomous Community, which is the one with the powers. At the same time, she valued the coordination between the technical teams of the Institute and the different entities dedicated to the care of girls and boys. She values that “international collaboration has allowed us to work on the path of family reunification.”
The profiles
During the conference, which ends today, the technicians of the Childhood and Family Unit Ana Elba Herrera and Ana María Belda presented a study in which they break down the different profiles of migrant minors who receive attention from the IASS resources. A work that has resulted in several data with which the Institute intends to evaluate the care received by unaccompanied migrant minors and adapt and improve it according to their specific needs.
“Getting to know the girls and boys, their trajectories and their future projects, is what allows us to set up services and resources that really adapt to the situation of each group and their aspirations,” says the councilor Marián Franquet.
The rector of the ULL puts the focus on the fragility of this age group, without family references: “They are alone and alone in a new continent, coming from realities far removed from ours and, above all, very unknown.”
For this reason, Rosa Aguilar highlights the responsibility required by social policies that respond to this situation and congratulates the Cabildo de Tenerife for launching this initiative and focusing on improving the care provided to this group.
find relatives
Other points that will be highlighted during the two days of the meeting will be the work carried out by the Childhood and Family Unit from the international point of view. This task, through collaboration with different institutions and associations outside of Spain, pursues the objective of finding relatives of minors who have arrived in the Canary Islands to promote their reunification. In this case, different representatives of Spanish Red CrossSamusocial Paris, France Horizon or the Children’s Social Assistance Service team in the Haut-Seine region of France.
A professional and technical day, but full of feelings and emotions. They are placed among the public by the workers of the centers who struggle every day to help those who are already part of a growing family. The task is to help them and integrate them into the island society.
Institutional violence against women
The IASS promotes the debate on institutional violence against women in a conference that “pursues self-criticism by institutions in order to improve the care received by women victims of gender violence.” This is affirmed by the insular counselor of Social Action, Marián Franquet, who appreciates the presence at the Hotel Escuela Santa Cruz of relatives of victims who give their testimony. The 1st Insular Days of Awareness and Eradication of Institutional Gender Violence were born with a vocation for continuity. They start from a motion presented by Sí Podemos Canarias and approved by all the groups. The purple spokeswoman María José Belda highlights that “they represent the first step in what we hope will be a change to make visible and correct this violence.”
