Gesture for the reception of minors in a helplessness situation

San Mamés will be witness this Saturday of a gesture for the reception of minors in situation of helplessness and in the seats of our stadium 45,000 informative triptychs will be distributed to promote the mentioned practice. Bizkaia is in constant need of families who are willing to take care of minors who are in a situation of helplessness, something that can be done via emergency, temporary and permanent shelters.

Children, minors in a situation of vulnerability, are one of the priority fields of action of the Department of Social Action of the Provincial Council of Biscay. Foster care is the main protection measure for children under the protection of the Provincial Council, children who cannot live with their families. In Bizkaia, many girls and boys of different ages wait in reception centres for a family to take them into their home temporarily or permanently. The need to add more foster families is constant and that is why the campaign “It really does not fit a cradle at your home? / “Benetan ez zaizula sartzen sehaska bat etxean?” is still in force since 2017.

At the moment, in Bizkaia, more than 400 children of different ages live in our shelters. Foster care helps these children who, for different reasons, cannot live with their biological parents, to understand their past, improve their present and offer them the alternative of a better future.

Specific needs: Bizkaia needs 10 people or families for emergency foster care of children under 3 years old and 25 more families to take care of other cases of minors aged between 3 and 13 years old for the other two types of foster care: temporary or permanent. We are also looking for families that are willing to welcome groups of siblings and children with special needs. They are practically the same numbers as always (about 35 persons or families).

One thing must be clear: foster care is not a way of adoption. It is a measure of temporary protection, it can last from months to years, and even until the minor reaches the age of majority, but foster care maintains as an objective that whenever possible the return of the minor with his or her parents is attempted. The biological family will be present throughout the placement and must be respected. They are children who have two families. They maintain contact and relationship with their family of origin with the appropriate visiting regime established by the County Council.

People interested in being part of the network of foster families must go through a process of assessment and preparation. At all times they will receive comprehensive support from a multidisciplinary team of the Department of Social Action that operates 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

The telephone number and e-mail address for contacting the Family Foster Care programme of the Provincial Council of Biscay are as follows:
Telephone: 944 470 737
Email: [email protected]
It can also be contacted through the foral web: www.bizkaia.eus