SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, July 21 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Government Council of the Canary Islands has approved this Thursday the draft decree that develops the Regulations for the Organization and Operation of the Family Meeting Points, thus complying with Law 1/2010, of February 26, Canary Islands on Equality between Women and Men, which in its article 51.5 attributes the creation of the PEF to the Autonomous Administration.
This rule endows these resources with a specific regime, not only as an instrument to enforce the visitation regime established in a judicial or administrative resolution, but as a true public service of assistance, orientation and family mediation, to which they can be referred. those families that require an intervention that ensures the well-being of the minors in their care.
To do this, as its name suggests, it regulates the operating regime of the PEF, determines the minimum professionals they must have, the referral procedure and the rights and obligations of users
Regarding personnel requirements, it requires the existence of an interdisciplinary technical team that has an organization and is made up of at least three professionals with degrees in Psychology, Social Work and Social Education, in addition to accredited training in the field of equality. , gender violence and attention to diversity.
It also sets out the conditions for their location, requiring that they be located in or near the urban area, in premises or flats integrated into the community, in areas with good communication by public transport, as well as close to or with easy access to places. or public gardens.
It also establishes the requirements and distribution that its facilities must have, such as having enough space to carry out all the planned actions: visiting rooms, interview rooms, a pick-up and drop-off area for minors and a children’s play area.
Likewise, it establishes the obligation to have internal organization and operation regulations, in which the common rules contained in this document must be respected, and the possibility for users to present suggestions, claims and complaints.
The Government emphasizes that the Registry of Family Meeting Points is also created, where all the public and private entities that provide this service must appear. Those that are currently operating will have one year to adapt to the requirements of this standard.
The Family Meeting Point (PEF) is a neutral and ideal space to facilitate the relationship of minors with their parents and other relatives, in those cases in which this relationship is difficult and so has been determined by a judicial authority or administrative.
PRIVATE INITIATIVE
Thus, it is a specialized social resource of Public Responsibility, which can be established both by the Autonomous Administration and by the island councils and the municipalities of the Canary Islands.
However, private initiative is also allowed, through recognized social or third-sector entities and registered in the corresponding registries in accordance with social services regulations.
Currently, there are eleven PEF in the Canary Islands, nine of them financed and promoted by the Government of the Canary Islands, one whose management and competence corresponds to the Cabildo de Gran Canaria and another specialized in gender violence (Telde) charged to the Pact Funds of State.
Since 2019, a strategy has been developed to promote the extension of these services through the granting of subsidies to entities with experience and training in this field.
In this sense, five PEFs have been created and the budget dedicated to this line of action has been notably increased (from 600,000 euros in 2020 to 920,000 euros in 2022), in addition to a specific line of financing supported by the State Pact against Gender Violence in order to specialize the PEF and give a specific response to this reality.
The network, specifically, is made up of three PEFs in Gran Canaria -one promoted by the Government in San Bartolomé de Tirajana, another in charge of the Cabildo and a third specialized in gender violence financed by the State-, three in Tenerife and one in Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, La Palma -with two locations, Santa Cruz de La Palma and Los Llanos de Aridane-, La Gomera and El Hierro.
400 USER FAMILIES
The PEFs located in El Hierro, La Gomera, La Palma and Santa Lucía de Tirajana are managed by the Spanish Red Cross; those located in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, La Orotava and Fuerteventura, by the Canarian Foundation ‘Center of Care for the Family of Tenerife’; the one in Lanzarote, by the Canarian Association for Family, Educational and Psychosocial Intervention and Mediation ‘+ Family’ and the one located in Arona by the Association ‘Domitila Hernández from Tacoronte for Equal Opportunities’.
According to the latest data collected by the Vice-Ministry of Justice, directed by Carla Vallejo, the number of families that use the PEF exceeds four hundred, with some of them having a waiting list to be able to make use of the service they provide.
The regulation now approved includes the possibility that mediation and family guidance actions be carried out in the PEF, offering users tools for the development of their parenting skills and overcoming existing conflicts.
The performance of the PEF is guided, as a fundamental principle, by the best interest of the child and adolescent, and their functions must be carried out under the maxims of neutrality and objectivity, confidentiality and protection of the right to privacy, temporality, free of charge and professionalism, integrating in turn the gender perspective in all its actions.
Its main objectives are four: to facilitate the encounter and relationship of the boy, girl and adolescent with their parents and other members of their family, in a neutral, safe and violence-free space, guaranteeing their psychological, affective and emotional well-being; guide and promote the autonomy of users, providing them with the necessary tools so that they are able to interact and communicate with minors, without the help or supervision of this service; regularly inform the bodies from which it derived its use of the evolution of the meetings and visits, of the incidents that may occur and, if necessary, make proposals on the exercise of relationship and communication rights, and provide, in your case, family mediation service to reach agreements that allow the resolution of a family crisis and the proper exercise of the rights of users.
