The ‘consellera’ of Drets Socials de Catalunya, Violant Cervera, has explained that all the entities or families that want to go to look for or take in minors who are refugees from the war in Ukraine they must contact the General Directorate of Attention to Children and Adolescents (DGAIA). In this sense, he has asked “everyone who wants to be a foster family, and everyone who is already with Ukrainian minors without legal guardians, to contact the department through the Infancia Responde telephone number.” People who want to should contact 116 111 or by mail to [email protected]. A first assessment and a provisional study will be carried out of the emergency family (contact with the family, home visit and interview, and issuance of the report). Everyone will be enrolled in school.
Cervera has stressed that the entities or families of these refugee minors should not act “unilaterally” to avoid irregular situations, because “if things are not done well it could be child trafficking.”
Cervera explained that those who want to host must notify the DGAIA and that the Generalitat is legally responsible for any minor who arrives in Catalonia without their corresponding legal guardians.
call to responsibility
“We know that there is many entities that, with all the good faith in the worldhave expressed the will to go look for children in Ukraine to bring them to Catalonia and we are at their side, but we call for responsibility”, he affirmed.
The ‘consellera’ has also indicated that protocols and work with families and entities have been accelerated through “an emergency circuit” to be able to welcome children fleeing the war in Ukraine with the aim of providing them with safe and legal environments, ensure their well-being and that they have their papers in order as soon as possible so that they can have guaranteed access to the public health system and their right to schooling.
interim custody
Ukrainian refugee minors in Catalonia will be under the tutelage of the Generalitat and the families that host them will have the “temporary custody” until the DGAIA teams do the relevant ratings from their homes and environments in order to give them “a more permanent foster status”.
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“The most important thing right now is the safety, health, rights and well-being of children, who are in a situation absolutely vulnerableand the Generalitat is going to be at the side of the families to meet the needs they have,” Cervera said.
The ‘consellera’ has also explained that the identification of all the minors received and their respective families will be communicated to the Ukrainian consulate and that the DGAIA will be in contact with the consulate “to process and manage the documentation of the minors who require it for having lost it fleeing their country of origin or because they don’t have any”.