New guidelines for children living in alternative care announced
The Social Care Standards Authority and the Ministry for the Family, Children’s Rights and Social Solidarity yesterday released new guidelines for children living in alternative care for stakeholders contributing to this sector.
Yesterday morning, the ministry held a press conference at Dar Frate Jacoba, a centre of the Youth Alive Foundation which shelters homeless adolescents who find themselves at the edge of society.
Authority CEO Matthew Vella explained that this is a crucial step that the authority is taking as these standards are the voice of the children affected by them.
“The most important element during our public consultancy was to speak with the children themselves. They gave a lot of ideas which are at the heart of these standards. These standards are based on the idea of simplifying the bureaucracy within this sector and send a message of good governance by ensuring the active participation of these children.”
Vella added that with these standards the authority is also ensuring that stakeholders are involved. “We are helping service providers and professionals increase the quality of their services thanks to quality and performance indicators. Today we have a clear model that ensures transparency in how the money is being used. These standards show that we are looking beyond practicality by delving into the legal side of things.”
The guidelines of these standards are divided into a pack for office-based services and another for residential services. Additionally, an easy-toread booklet, adorned with illustrations, is also available in order to make these standards more accessible to the children themselves so that they can understand the rights they have as well.
Parliamentary Secretary for Local Governments and Communities Silvio Parnis said that while speaking to Franciscan Friar Fr Ray Scicluna, carer at Dar Frate Jacoba, he realised that while the government contributes a lot, one cannot overlook the services that the Church provides.
“In life everyone goes through challenging times and it is important for one to find a place to help shoulder the weight. For this reason, the government should invest funds so that we can have a generation that improves the values of our country.”
Minister for the Family, Children’s Rights and Social Solidarity Michael Falzon said that childcare services, such as those provided at Dar Frate Jacoba, are aimed at providing children in difficulty with the care they need.
“Unfortunately, in Malta we have around 450 children who are living in alternative care with half being fostered and the other half residing in residential homes. In residential homes, we have different models wherein it not only considers care for the children but also for their education and environment. This is a delicate sector and Malta puts a lot of attention to it with regard to care and psychological support.”
He explained that projects like this one are not aimed at showing how benefactory the ministry can be, it is about the prioritisation in distribution of public funds.
“It is of great satisfaction to see funds collected from society being returned back to it with such services.”
“Society is always changing, and no one can ever stop these changes from happening. So, what we have to do is to try and stay ahead of it through such innovative projects.”