Understanding the Process of Family Reintegration of the Children of Casa San José (Cochabamba, Bolivia)
Editor's
Note: Recently, several Agora XXI blog entries have acquainted our readers with
the background and present activities at Casa San José in Bolivia. The present article gets to the hopeful heart
of the matter: reuniting the children with their families in conditions that
improve the likelihood of successful family life, and some of the difficulties
encountered.
Casa San José has, as its principal goal,
the reintegration of street children and adolescents from Cochabamba into their
families. In dealing with agencies that
take in minors (such as in our situation with street children), and which pursue
their reintegration into their families, the Bolivian government asks through
the Children and Adolescent Court that the families complete a series of
requirements and thereby demonstrate that they are suitable for the return of
the children. As part of the process the
Casa San José social worker prepares a status report and tries to explain to
the children about the legal proceedings that, at times, can be complex and
involve many, seemingly endless, steps in Children’s Court. This formal process
often delays the assimilation of children. Therefore the children, despite our patient
efforts to explain all of this to them, are often bewildered, frustrated and
demoralized.
Recently, so that the children could understand
a little better this often complicated process, the staff of Casa San José took
the kids themselves to visit the three Children and Adolescent Courts of
Cochabamba. Taking advantage of the
occasion, the children were able to express to the judges the doubts they had
about their particular cases... since some already had been waiting many
months. One of the reasons that extends
the process of reintegration is that the judges insist on various requirements
that the parents of the children sometimes don’t fulfill satisfactorily. In many other cases, the process extends
because the governmental entities themselves are delayed in processing the
documentation that will bring about the interviews with the parents.
Before the visit to the Court, we tried
to teach the children some terms, like right,
duty, judge, audience / interview so that they can better understand what will
be spoken in the courts. Also it was
explained to them how each of the families has to collect evidence that
demonstrates that they are prepared to shelter and educate their children. Much of this evidence is offered as proof
that the situation in the family is improving enough, in many aspects, in order
to guarantee the success of the reintegration.
One example of this proof would be the attendance of the mother and
father at a parenting class (at Casa San José, for example) so that they can
better educate and care for their children.
With the evidence gathered, the formal request for reintegration is
presented to the Children and Adolescent Court.
An interview follows with the Court’s special team, and finally an
audience with the Judge that in many cases can take months to schedule. It is there, in this hearing, that the final
decision of the Judge is received regarding the reintegration (return) of the
child to the family.
The field trip to the Court turned out
to be important as the children learned a little more about the process that is
followed by which they finally return to live with their family in a suitable
manner.
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