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Amendment Of The System Of Foster Care Support

Original Language Title: Alteração do regime de apoio ao acolhimento familiar

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Draft Law No 640 /X/4.

Amendment of the support scheme for family reception

Exhibition of Motives

The Decree-Law No. º190/192 of September 3 provided for the family reception being then designed as a response of the social action promoted directly by the social security institutions with the aim of ensuring the child or young person a medium partner-family suited to the development of your personality in replacement of the natural family. In the absence of a specific mechanism of support for family members of children and young people who with them resided under their guard, this scheme even provided that those relatives could be considered host family. For equal reason it also made it extendable to relatives in 1. degree of the straight-line and or of the 2. degree of the collateral line the support that was granted by the maintenance of the child or the young person under the family reception scheme. In Article 14 (2) (b), (c) and (d) of the Decree-Law No. 190/92 of September 3, the right of host families to receive from the framework institutions, the financial amounts of retribution by the departments, was established provided, the values of subsidies for the maintenance of children and young people, as well as the amounts necessary to cover extraordinary expenditure relating to the health and education of the housed. In order to fulfil the objective of decreasing the number of children placed in institutions, the present Government has approved the Decree-Law No. º11/2008 of January 17 laying down the scheme for the implementation of the family reception and the Decree-Law No. 12/2008, of 17 of January, which sets out the scheme for the implementation of measures for the promotion and protection of children and young people in danger in a natural medium of life. With the Decree-law No. º11/2008 of January 17, the family reception is intended to be professionalized and, contrary to what was happening in Decree-Law No. 190/92 of September 3, host families cannot have any relationship of kinship with the child and the young man in distress.

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The attitude of the Government mirrored in these diplomas is totally lagged from the existing reality, ignoring the characteristics as well as the real needs felt by the families who provide a childcare service to children and young people at risk. This is because,-First of all, of the number of existing host families in finals of 2006 more than half had kinship ties with the children hosted. These families become covered by the protective measures in a natural way of life-Decree-Law No. 12/2008-losing the right to the subsidy that they previously received automatically and having to apply for possible economic support. -On the other hand, it should be noted that the vast majority of children and young people at risk remain with the host family for a period of more than two years, with strong affective ties being strong. By legislating in favour of the professionalisation of host families, the Government once again acts in a manner that is unarresting and disregarding reality. -Finally, it should be pointed out that by withdrawing supports that came from being allocated to most host families, by bureaucratizing the procedures for obtaining economic support, the budgetary balance of the families is affected, with the major harms are children and young people, not only in the economic plan but also in the affective plan. It is still apparent, through recent data, that the rate of child poverty has been growing in most of the rich countries. Portugal is no exception and children live with a risk of poverty higher than the rest of the population. It is certainly a responsibility of the Government to protect children from the most acute poverty during their years of growth and training. It is therefore necessary in honour of the most elementary criteria for relative justice, a review of the host families ' rights regime provided for in the Decree-Law No. 11/2008 and the economic support scheme provided for in the Decree-Law No. 12/2008, having in seen to maintain the necessary supports to the action of those who welcome a child or a young person at risk.

In these terms,

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The Deputies undersigned, under the constitutional provisions and

regimental in force, present the following Draft Law:

Article 1º

(Amendment to Decree-Law No 11/2008 of January 17)

Article 20 of the Decree-Law No. º11/2008 of January 17, it shall have the following

wording:

" Article 20º

(...)

1-....................... 2-....................... 3-Host families are entitled to receive from the framework institutions: (...) g) The amounts required to cover extraordinary expenditure on the health and education of the housings. 4-..................... "

Article 2º

(Amendments to Decree-Law No 12/2008 of January 17)

Article 13 of the Decree-Law No. 12/2008 of January 17 is to have the following

wording:

" Article 13.

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(...)

1-Family aggregates that welcome children and young people at risk are entitled to receive from the framing institution:

a) Technical support and continuing education; (b) The amounts corresponding to the consideration of the host service

provided; (c) The values of the allowances for the maintenance of the accommodated; d) The amounts necessary for the coverage of extraordinary expenses relating to the

health and the education of the housed.

2-The values relating to the monthly consideration and the allowance for maintenance, provided for in points (b) and (c) of the preceding paragraph shall be set by dispatch of the member of the Government responsible for the area of Labour and Social Solidarity and are subject to annual update. 3-........................... 4-........................... "

Article 3º

(Entry into force)

The present diploma enters into force on the day following its publication Palace of Saint Benedict, January 15, 2009.

The Deputies,