Executive Summary
Introduction
The European Commission Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers commissioned SOS Children’s Villages International to undertake case studies of arrangements for ‘alternative child care’ in six non-European countries in three continents to help inform the EU’s future strategy for provision of support for children in countries outside Europe. This report is a case study of one of the six countries, Chile. A companion report provides a summary of alternative child care across Central and South America.
Methodology
The methodology employed for this study included a literature review undertaken through a key word search in the database Web of Science and other web-based search. Literature was also supplied by contacts in Chile. One international consultant conducted interviews with key informants and one national staff member of SOS Children’s Villages conducted interviews with children and young people.
The socio-economic context
In 2015, the population of Chile was reported to be 17,948,141.1 Approximately 13% of the population live in rural areas, with the vast majority of the remaining citizens located in areas in and around the capital of Santiago. In 2013, approximately 29% of the population were under the age of 18 years (4,532,000) and 7% were under the age of 5 years (1,244,000). In 2014, average life expectancy was 81.5 years and in 2015, under-five mortality rate was estimated at 8.1 per 1,000 live births.
In 2009, only 41% of families were headed by two parents. In the same year, the proportion of children born outside marriage was 58.4%.
Chile is classified by the World Bank as being in the high income group. Over the last two decades, Chile is noted for having made progress in reducing its poverty rate, which is now lower than most other Latin American countries. However, data collated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2009, shows poverty affected 15.1% of the population with children being the most affected (24.5% of children under the age of 3 years, and 21.5% of children aged between 4 and 17 years).
Why are children placed in formal alternative care?
Children are placed in alternative care as a measure of protection. Overwhelmingly it is claimed that poverty is no longer the driving factor, although still an underlying concern. Children are removed from parental care through a judicial order when there are concerns of abuse and neglect. Informants spoke of a ‘violation of rights’, which they explained as being the terminology used for abuse and neglect.
What types of alternative care are available?
The most common form of care is informal care within extended families. This is mostly undocumented and unregulated. Lack of research means it is not possible to identify the benefits and challenges this form of care offers children in Chile.
The most utilised form of formal alternative care is residential care. In 2015, a total of 11,429 children were recorded as having been in residential care. Approximately 98% of residential facilities are managed by non-governmental bodies, with some of the largest and longest established organisations being affiliated to the Catholic Church. Residential facilities vary in size from those accommodating 10 children to several housing over 150.
There are legal provisions for foster care in Chile, and it is a form of care that is becoming more culturally acceptable. Approximately one third of children in formal alternative care are living in foster placements. Between January and December 2012 a total of 5,121children (26%) were in foster care compared to 14,677 (74%) in residential facilities. The majority of foster care placements are within the extended family of the child. Investment is required to strengthen fostering services in Chile.
Adoption is the responsibility of the National Service for Minors (Servicio Nacional de Menores) (SENAME), and four accredited non-state organisations. In 2015, a total of 1,388 children received adoption status conferred by a judge and 510 children were matched with foster parents. The adoption process was described by informants for this study as long, bureaucratic and complex.
What are the structures and processes governing alternative care?
As identified by an informant interviewed during the field research, ‘Chile lacks a comprehensive rights protection law, as a law of this type not only recognises basic rights of child protection but should also establish effective mechanisms to exercise, protect and promote systemically’. To address this gap in legislation, the Government of Chile has developed a new ‘Child Law’, which is currently awaiting the approval of Congress.
The National Council for Children (the Council) was created in 2014 as a Presidential advisory body to bring together the work of various government agencies and direct their actions towards the realisation of children’s rights. The Council is currently working on government reforms to the national child protection system.
The Ministry for Justice and Human Rights is responsible for delivery of child protection and child care services. This is delivered through SENAME. SENAME also holds responsibility for the regulation and monitoring of residential care and other care services. Although it has oversight of state funded child care services and some regulatory duties, it is assessed as weak, under-resourced and staffed by professionals lacking the skills and knowledge with which to fulfil their roles and responsibilities. The Government has recognised the weaknesses of SENAME and are currently finalising plans that would see the replacement of SENAME with a new government body responsible for the protection of children. The Government of Chile has set a target of 2018 to complete reforms, although it is anticipated this target will not be realised.
Family courts also play a significant and important role as primary gatekeepers. All formal care decisions should go through these courts. This includes the issuing of orders mandating services of family support for the prevention of separation, placement in alternative care, and the return of children in alternative care placements to their families.
Non-governmental organisations play a significant role in the delivery of alternative child care in Chile, many of which are affiliated to the Catholic church. There is a government mandated accreditation process that NGOs must abide by. This process also allows them to bid for government funding with which to deliver children’s residential and outreach services.
A primary weakness in terms of mandatory technical standards and mechanisms for child protection is the lack of standardised tools and methodology for all aspects of the continuum of case management and care provision. In particular, there is a concern that the lack of standardised, comprehensive assessments means judgements are being made about alternative care placements on the subjective opinions of each individual decision maker.
How is the workforce trained and supported?
There are passionate, knowledgeable and experienced people in the country, many of whom work in non-state organisations. However, throughout this research, the need to increase the knowledge and skills of those working in child protection and alternative care was raised consistently by informants.
In addition to this identified need for capacity building, professionals, especially within the Government sector, face a number of challenges. These include poor remuneration, low morale, high workloads and a lack of financial and other resources with which to deliver services.
One consequence of the poor availability of case management tools and mechanisms, coupled with generally poor technical capacity and differing personal attitudes within state and non-state agency workers, means decision-making for children and families remains a highly subjective matter.
There are social work programmes at undergraduate and graduate levels, and academic research is being undertaken in university departments. However, informants were united in calling for much more investment in the skills of all those working with children and an inter-sectoral approach to child protection.
What is working and what is not working?
A significant change in the child protection system over the past 25 years has been the refocussing of use of alternative care away from the driving factor of poverty to one that is a measure of protection. In addition, there are passionate and dedicated people working with children in Chile bringing innovation and energy to improving care provision and moving forward reforms.
There are, however, a number of weaknesses in the national child protection and child care system. These include major concerns regarding capacity, skills, knowledge and abilities of some of the workforce, and most especially those working within government agencies. Challenges also relate to lack of investment in all aspects of service development and delivery, as well as fragmentation and gaps in legislation and policy. There are specific issues regarding the lack of effective and systematic case management tools, including those of referral, assessment, care planning, monitoring and review. In addition, the poor participation of children and families in decision making processes remains a concern to many.
The most common form of care is informal within the extended family although little is known about children in these situations. Non-state organisations provide almost all of the residential child care in Chile, and although there are some innovative practices within agencies determined to improve the quality of care, standards of provision within residential facilities remain highly variable. Due to the lack of sufficient availability of family-based alternatives, placement in residential facilities remains the most utilised form of alternative care provision in Chile.
It is the responsibility of the Government of Chile to ensure effective accreditation, regulation and inspection processes. Although systematic inspections are being undertaken, the lack of monitoring with regards to the quality of care afforded to individual children is noted to be a weakness in the Government assessment and inspection process.
It is positive how the Government of Chile and child protection professionals in non-state organisations continue to identify weaknesses within the child protection system and are taking some steps to address this situation. Investment is being made to implement law and policy that gives precedence to prevention of family separation, provision of familybased alternative care and reintegration. The capacity of the Government child protection agency, SENAME has been identified as a specific weakness. The decision to replace SENAME with a new agency holding the mandate for child protection has been welcomed by many, although it is concerning there are still no specific plans for the realisation of this objective.
The Government recognition that major reforms are required is seen as extremely positive by many child care professionals and overall there is much optimism that child protection and child care provision in Chile will continue to improve.
