Artur Lima calls for Azores child protection consensus
Azores GuideArtur Lima said child protection policy in the Azores should retain a regional focus and remain outside party divisions.
Artur Lima called for child protection to be a matter of consensus beyond political cycles and party differences during the opening of the VIII Regional Meeting of the Commissions for the Protection of Children and Young People of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Ponta Delgada, according to Diário dos Açores.
He highlighted the Azores Commissioner for Childhood's work over the past 10 years in promoting children's rights and providing close, informed support suited to Azorean children and young people. Lima said this work helps the region's 19 child-protection commissions identify constraints and needs.
Lima said stronger child-protection policies must retain a regional dimension and stay linked to knowledge and experience built up in the territory, rather than being handed to a centralist national entity. He also recalled free daycare for all brackets, additional daycare and CATL places, and study points for disadvantaged children, which he said now benefit more than one thousand children and have significantly improved school results.
Addressing the Regional Strategy for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities, Lima said institutions must not refuse a child with a disability because they are under 18 and later refuse admission at 18 because they lack autonomy. He said the government or supervising authority must act firmly, particularly where institutions receive Regional Government funding.
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Azores Guide
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