O abrigo como fator de risco e proteção: indicadores e avaliação institucional
Resumen
Research indicates how foster care institutions problems may harm the development of
children and adolescents in need for protection. Thus, a more efficient practice by
professionals who work in these entities could contribute with the prevention of
deficiencies, which institutionalized children may present. The present work focuses on the
role of child protection services and has as general objective to investigate the strategies
employed by such professionals, when evaluating foster care institutions, as well as under
which quality indicators their assessment behavior is under control. Two studies were
carried through in two interior cities of São Paulo estate, Brazil. Four child protection
agents, a member of the Municipal Council for the Rights of the Children and the
Adolescents, a member of the Social Assistance City Council, the Judiciary power s Social
Worker, the town´s Judge, and the Coordinator of the town s single foster care institution
participated of Study 1. Study 2 participants were: nine professionals responsible for the
foster care evaluation (five Child Protection Agents, one member of the Municipal Council
for the Rights of the Children and the Adolescents, the Youth and Child Judge and the
city s Prosecutor; as well as five foster care institutions Coordinators). The data was
collected by means of interviews, questionnaires and document analysis. Results indicated
that the professionals who monitor foster care institutions, in both studies, use,
predominantly, local visits to the entity as an evaluation strategy. However, these visits
vary in frequency and format (some talk every two to six months with employees and
children; while others only observe the functioning of the entity). Quality indicators
described as guidelines for the assessment are also varied. The low frequency of reports
regarding training aspects of foster care staff and the entity s concern for maintenance of
the familiar bonds are of notice.