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Oportunidades para el Desarrollo de Interacciones Sensibles, Eficaces, y Afectivas (ODISEA) – Reunificación Familiar (Opportunities for Sensible, Efficient, and Affectionate Interactions – Family Reunification)

Every boy and girl deserve a home and a family environment where they can develop to their maximum potential. When this principle is not met, as is the case when children are institutionalized at an early age, they tend to lag behind in terms of overall development. The ODISEA (ODYSSEY) Family Reunification program is a novel, evidence-based strategy that seeks to improve childrearing practices and promote family reunification. It aims to restore the right of girls and boys who are part of the alternative care and protection system to live in a family, be it their own, or an extended or foster family. To this end, the program strives to strengthen parents and caregivers’ ability to create ties and educate and protect boys and girls. This project can provide valuable lessons on an area that has been poorly explored in the region.

Problematic

In 2019, nearly 25,000 girls and boys under 5 years of age entered a rights protection service in Chile. Growing up in an institution can lead children to develop insecure attachment traits and may also slow down their socio-emotional development. In addition, institutionalized girls and boys may display emotion-control difficulties and higher levels of anxiety and hyperactivity. In the long term, these children show higher school dropout levels than their non-institutionalized peers.

Solution

This program promotes family reunification strategies for boys and girls using a childcare system that teaches parents to stimulate children’s cognitive development through play. A team of professionals act as mediators in family meetings held to promote reflective family attitudes, improve caregivers’ capabilities, and foster changes in parenting habits and practices. During these interventions four notebooks (known as Family Accompaniment Logs) are used as guides to orient the professional team and the family. Parental behaviors are promoted in four theme areas: stress regulation, empathic reception of emotions, positive orientation of children’s behavior, and care and protection of children’s rights. The families receive counseling and training on reflective supervision, starting with efforts to understand the transgression that led the boys or girls to end up in an institution. They are also encouraged to improve and modify any dysfunctional rearing tactics.

Evaluation and Impact

No information is available.

Basic data

Target population
Caregivers
Girls and Boys (0-3) years
Girls and Boys (3-5) years
Area
Caregiver development
Cognitive development
Language development
Socio-emotional development
Allies
Fundación Ideas para la Infancia
Place
Chile
Start date
State
Intermediate stage
Type of Intervention
Caregiver or teacher training
Delivery mode
Group sessions
Individual sessions