The maintenance of the child in his/her family of origin should be treated as a priority whenever possible. It is in the family where the best conditions are found for the optimal upbringing of the child, where they are best for attachment to one or two key stable people who ensure his/her security. No part of the family should be considered incapable, by definition, of taking the child into its care (because of sickness, a social characteristic, belonging to an ethnic minority, etc.). When risk factors potentially dangerous for the child are detected in a family, since we know from experience that they can lead to situations of abandonment, mistreatment or serious neglect, it is important to develop psychosocial family support services that can encourage other protective factors in the child, the family and the environment, in such a way that they manage to compensate for, or eliminate the risk factors.
©ISS/IRC
