Crianças e adolescentes em acolhimento institucional: perfil e situação sociojurídica

Abstract

The present research aimed to analyze the procedural information related to the foster care of children and adolescents who were under protective measure in an institution in the period of 2019 and 2020, in the city of Belém/PA. The study included the filling of 30 medical records. For data collection, two forms were used, one for characterization of children and the other for characterization of adolescents. The data were analyzed quantitatively by means of descriptive statistics. The results showed a predominance of female children and adolescents in the age group of 8 to 11 years old and that most of them were in elementary school. The main reasons for foster care were family neglect, abandonment, sexual violence and physical violence. About 86.7% of the children and adolescents had siblings in the same institution. Most of the fostered children were in their first foster care. The time they had been in the current institution was more than 18 months for most of the participants. Regarding the socio-legal situation of those who were fostered during the research period, the priority was the return to the family of origin, in its different arrangements. The results found point to the need for updated studies about the profile of children and adolescents in foster care and their families, before, during and after foster care, in order to contribute to the reflection about the practice of foster care institutions and to the improvement of public policies aimed at this population.