Serviços de acolhimento institucional de crianças e adolescentes na Região Metropolitana de Belém: os ambientes, os acolhidos e os educadores

Abstract

The study aimed at characterizing the shelter services provided for children and adolescents in the metropolitan region of Belém (MRB) giving emphasis for the profile and practices adopted by institutions and educators, as well as personal, family, and institutional profile of the sheltered children and adolescents. Were part of this study 14 manager the sheltering services that attend children and adolescents at a risky situation in the MRB, and the 198 educators. The study made use of 426 personal records of the sheltered children from January to December 2012. For the data collection it was used a characterization form of the institutions, the profile of the sheltered children and the educators, through document research and interview. The data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. Among the results it was identified an equal proportion of governmental and non-governmental units and a high number of institutional shelter. With regards to the physical environment, some spaces were found to have residential characteristics, placed on urban areas and without any identification sign. In general, the institutions use criteria as gender and age for providing the service, and they maintain an articulation with the social services network, chiefly in areas as education, health, culture and leisure. About the profile of the sheltered ones it was noticed a majority of male children, who didn’t have the name of the father on their birth certificate, aged between zero and three years, and were not old enough to be in school. Among the adolescents, it was noted a majority of girls, between 15 and 17 years old, with the name of the father on their identification documents, and were attending high school. With what concerns the reasons for sheltering the most frequent are abandonment, family negligence, poverty and vulnerability, and sexual violence. In general, the families did not receive the benefits of support and income transference, and some of the members are drug abusers. The mothers aged between 20 and 35, the fathers were over 36 years old, both with a low level of education, had low paying and low qualification jobs, and had known residence. The institutions point to a set of actions that take place during the process of attendance, not only with the sheltered ones but also with the family. Nonetheless, the reality found was filled with gaps, pronounced lack of information and inconsistent data usually regarding the family profile, visits, illnesses, and emotional changes. Regarding the educators, most were women, over 36 years old, who had finished high school, had children of their own, and had experience working in this job, however, did not attend any training program. The majority of them performed some actions to bring back their life histories and engaged in positive interactions in the working routine, with the exception of practices directed to sexuality aspects. The results strengthen the conception of sheltering institutions to be a constantly changing, dynamic, and complex environment, that needs to be seen as a care environment, but also as a space for hearing, and possible constant dialog between the actors involved.