The Ministries of Social and Health Rights, together with the regional governments have approved, for the first time, an agreement at the state level aimed at improving early attention and reducing waiting times, so that the maximum period for children of 6 years receive a free and free quality care should be 45 days since the case is detected at risk.
This is one of the commitments adopted in the document, a ‘common quality referential map for all autonomous communities, approved at the multisectoral conference in which Pablo Bustinduy, Minister of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030 have been present , and Mónica García, Minister of Health, which is structured in nine lines of action that are specified in concrete measures and in 36 quality standards.
The temporary term for the implementation of these measures will be the year 2030 and will coincide with the completion of the State Action Plan for the implementation of the European Child Guarantee (2022-2030), given that within the framework of this plan funds will be distributed to the Autonomous communities to promote the implementation of the measures contemplated in the state consensus.
Lines of action
Thus, in addition to establishing waiting time, it includes improving the quality of early care actions and services; implement effective inter -administrative coordination systems; implement effective processes of collaboration and active participation of families; Promote primary prevention; guarantee comprehensive assessment and intervention; the development of professional teams and continuous training of professionals involved in early care; and optimize information and registration systems.
In turn, performance indicators are established that allow evaluating the degree of development of commitments and their constant adaptation to the needs of the system. Likewise, the Technical Early Care Group will carry out a biennial monitoring of the implementation of the measures, based on the measurement of the planned indicators. And it will be in 2030 when a final evaluation will be carried out.
“A crucial and critical stage”
One of the “fundamental” points was to guarantee the waiting times in the age strip, from 0 to 6 years, “a crucial and critical stage and when the foundations of child development at the physical, cognitive, emotional and social development” . In addition, in this way, the fixed term is the one that the European Child Guarantee (GIE), a recommendation of the European Union Council that was approved unanimously in the year 2021.
From social rights and health alert of serious consequences that can impact children in need of early care if there is no quality public system. Consequences such as seeing their cognitive and social abilities compromised, developing health and nutrition problems, having educational difficulties, or seeing their opportunities to be fully included in the community and reaching their full potential.
In addition, they affect both ministries, “the lack of an effective and free system increases the risk of social exclusion for many families that are forced to supply the lack of the system with their own economic resources, and with their time and energy.” This, they add, “causes an imbalance that generates more unequal societies and with less opportunities for these children, and for their families.”
Early Attention Network in all communities
In addition to improving detention processes and reducing waiting times, the agreement approved on Monday contemplates that all autonomous communities have an early care network and that, for this, the regional governments have a rule that specifically regulate the matter . In these regulations, the mechanisms of coordination and sharing of documents and medical records must be established.
The system must also interconnect the departments that are part of the process, as well as order and regulate their participation: primary care teams, teachers, social services professionals. In this group of measures, the bases must also be established for the network to have a stable, sufficient and quality jobs workforce.
On the other hand, the document includes measures to guarantee comprehensive assessment and intervention, adapting all processes to the reality and rhythms of each child and their families, with which a permanent dialogue will be established. To this is added that the new orientation is committed to acting in the natural environments of children (home, park) and a biopsychosocial approach that addresses all development conditions.
The agreement also includes an economic endowment of almost 42 million euros that the Ministry of Social Rights will distribute among the autonomous governments charged to the European Social Fund Plus, with the objective that minors have adequate access to early care regardless of their place of residence and their family and social circumstances.
According to GAT, the Spanish Federation of Associations of Early Care Professionals, in 2023 (last year of which there are global data) almost 130,000 children (129,529) needed early attention, which represents more than 5% (5.38% ) of the population between 0 and 6 years.
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