The program AcogES+powered by SOS Children’s Villages and led by its director, Ana Alarconis a pioneering initiative in Spain that seeks to promote specialized family foster care with exclusive dedication. This model offers an alternative for family coexistence for boys, girls and adolescents with special needs either complex circumstancesas well as for groups of siblings who require a safe, affectionate and stable environment.
Could you explain to us how the AcogES+ project addresses the special needs of children in care?Our commitment at SOS Children’s Villages is clear: no child or adolescent should grow up without the love, support and protection of a family. However, we know that the reality for many of them is very different.
For this reason, three years ago, AcogES+ was born, a pilot project that responds to the urgent need to offer a family foster care model suitable for each child and adolescent… specifically to those with circumstances and needs for special attention, and groups of siblings. . This project seeks to guarantee that children have the opportunity to grow up in an adequate and safe family environment, offering comprehensive support to foster families, continuous training and economic resources.
What are the main challenges when placing children with special needs in foster families?Family foster care continues to be unknown to the majority of society in Spain. The transformation pursued by AcogES+ involves the creation of a true culture of reception, which helps to understand the situation of children in the protection system and overcomes the stigmatization to which boys and girls in alternative care are often exposed. Furthermore, the commitment of administrations to an adapted and equitable family foster care model is essential, offering the same protection and support throughout the territory.
How are families trained to provide an appropriate environment for children with disabilities or specific needs?Through formed families and the support network offered by SOS Children’s Villages, these boys and girls can find the safe and affectionate environment they need to develop fully. Families have a training plan, a battery of resources and the support of the team of professionals.
What type of disability profiles or special needs are most frequently found among the children served by AcogES+?Specialized family foster care with exclusive dedication is a care alternative for children and adolescents who, due to their needs or special characteristics, find it difficult to be welcomed in another foster care model. We also include the case of siblings, since in order to be welcomed on many occasions they have been separated, and what we seek is for them to remain together. These children require a more intensive and specialized type of care than that offered in traditional foster care.
How is support for foster families who take in children with disabilities different from general support?This new type of foster care includes both boys and girls with special needs and groups of siblings. The most intensive care needs entail exclusive dedication, and with this economic recognition, support and support that are absolutely necessary for the model to be viable.
All foster families require resources and support in addition to professional support. This project incorporates them and the objective is for the administrations to incorporate it starting in 2024 when the pilot project ends.
Could you share a case where AcogES+ has made a significant difference in the life of a child with a disability?Of course the privacy of children is an imperative requirement, but the vital circumstances of the case of a foster child who – from the first day of life – had been in a residence, have radically changed their future: family ties, ties emotional feelings, the feeling of belonging and the unconditional love of your new family will allow for a very different future that, otherwise, would probably have been impossible.
How does Children’s Villages collaborate with medical, educational and therapy services to support children with special needs in care?This project has had several objectives, including experimenting with this new model of “specialized, exclusive dedication” family care. In this process, Aldeas Infantiles has sought collaboration between different groups in the health, educational and therapeutic environment. In each case the specific need is considered, since no two children are the same. Therapy is a fundamental resource and has been very useful in most cases.
What changes have you noticed in the quality of life and development of children with disabilities who participate in AcogES+?The AcogES+ project has contemplated, in addition to the technical monitoring of the team of professionals, a continuous evaluation of the well-being and care of the children welcomed. For their part, the families themselves very soon recognize the improvement, emotional growth and affective evolution that all members of the family develop. The foster children’s previous children also play a fundamental role in the foster care, and their training and support have been contemplated and cared for in this project.
What are the main social or institutional barriers that exist in foster care for children with disabilities?At the event on Tuesday, November 12, we called on all institutions, social entities, and society as a whole: Let us support public policies that ensure the right of boys and girls in the protection system to grow up as a family. and let us guarantee that this right is accompanied and supported with the necessary resources to make it sustainable.
What message would you like to send to families considering the possibility of fostering children with special needs through AcogES+?It is crucial that we ensure the right of every boy and girl to grow up in affectionate, protective and stable family environments. Society can respond to many boys and girls deprived of parental care, and who are currently growing up in institutional centers. The decision to foster requires a period of maturation, but getting to know what foster care is is a first step. Request more information about AcogES+ at www.casaconfamilia.com, where you can leave your information and we will call you.
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