Child Protection Measures and Placement Options

1. Guardianship: Care Within the Own Family

This measure involves the assumption of guardianship of a child or adolescent by the DGAIA (Direcció General d'Atenció a la Infància i l'Adolescència) while parents retain custody. The family receives psychosocial support, which can be personal or economic. Professionals conduct ongoing case tracking to monitor the child's evolution.

2. Extended Family Foster Care (Kinship Care)

This involves the temporary placement of a child who cannot remain with their parents due to serious socioeconomic or personal difficulties, with a person or family with whom there is a kinship relationship. The foster caregivers have the obligation to supervise, feed, educate, and ensure the child's complete development until they can return to their biological family. Foster caregivers receive assessment and support from the EAIA (Equips d'Atenció a la Infància i l'Adolescència). The EAIA also works with the family of origin to address the reasons for separation.

3. Non-Kinship Family Foster Care

This temporary placement is established with individuals or families who have no kinship relationship with the child, when the child cannot remain with their parents due to serious socioeconomic or personal difficulties. The foster caregivers have the obligation to supervise, feed, educate, and ensure the child's complete development until they can return to their biological family. Foster caregivers receive assessment and support from specialized professionals (ICAA - Institut Català de l'Acolliment i l'Adopció). Work is also done with the family of origin to address the reasons for separation.

4. Pre-Adoptive Foster Care

This measure is applied prior to the adoption of a child when biological parents are unable to exercise their parental authority, and it is anticipated that this situation may be permanent. This occurs if they request the competent body to declare the abandonment of their rights and duties, and if the judicial authority determines it. The foster caregivers have the obligation to supervise, feed, educate, and ensure the child's complete development. Adoption is established by court order. The ICAA is responsible for receiving pre-adoptive foster care requests and for the validation of candidates.

5. Residential Institutional Care

This involves placement in a residential educational facility, either directly managed or collaborating with the DGAIA, appropriate to the child's characteristics. This measure applies when the need for family separation is anticipated to be temporary, and when simple family fostering was not possible or advisable. These centers provide comprehensive care to the child, address their physical and mental health, and devise an individualized educational project to achieve their personal development. EAIA centers and professionals work towards returning the child to their family of origin.