Institutions that care for children and young people in the Guarda district are concerned about the new operating rules and have highlighted difficulties in complying with the requirements that require the requalification of facilities and reinforcement of the technical staff.
The ordinance that establishes the operating and installation regime for shelters for children and young people was published in December 2023 and determines adaptation within 36 months.
The new operating model implies the reinforcement of technical staff and the requalification of facilities depending on the specificity of each unit.
In the Guarda district there are eight institutions that welcome around 200 children and young people.
Managers mainly complain about the lack of financial capacity to meet the requirements set out in the diploma from the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security.
“It’s a big challenge”, Magda Marques Pereira, technical director of the Institute of Early Childhood Education, in Manteigas, which hosts 12 young people at risk and recently organized a meeting on the subject, told Lusa agency Magda Marques Pereira.
The psychologist considered that “what is requested makes perfect sense”, but highlighted that “it is an adaptation that not all institutions will be prepared to make”.
Regarding the issue of technical teams, the technician foresees difficulties in hiring professionals, not only given the scarcity in the territory, but also due to the need to provide good salary conditions.
“It’s a very demanding answer. People have to be paid fairly.”
Following the new rules, the Government revised the value of the monthly Social Security contribution per child or young person.
The new table published on Monday defines the value of 2,400 euros for residential units, 3,334 euros for units specialized in specific problems and 1,150 euros for units promoting autonomy.
For the director of the São Miguel Institute, Julieta Afonso, “it is not because the State pays more that things will work better”.
This person identified other difficulties related to the structures of the buildings and the possibility of mixed reception.
“It will be very difficult. I’ve been in the field for a long time and I know the difficulties. We have difficult cases. One thing is theory and another is practice.”
The São Miguel Institute has three shelters, two welcome girls and one welcomes boys.
For the president of the Board of Directors of the Laura Santos Foundation, based in Moimenta da Serra, in the municipality of Gouveia, the legislation should have already been changed “with measures more focused on each of the users hosted”.
But Rui Reis, who is also director of UDIPSS – District Union of Private Social Solidarity Institutions, recognizes that “for older institutions there will be many difficulties, as it is necessary to carry out works and requalify spaces, many of them almost from scratch”.
He foresees that “it will not be possible to carry out this quickly and energetically, given the numerous difficulties presented by the properties, some of which are quite old and many of which are owned by the State and where the latter has not invested in their redevelopment for many years”.
The leader maintained that financial support is necessary because institutions across the country “have the serious problem of managing human resources, which do not exist”.
Rui Reis considered that “if the State does not make a commitment to help, it will be impossible for many institutions to survive and be able to make these changes reflected in the ordinance”.
