The Region of Tuscany and the Istituto degli Innocenti Update Guidelines on Fostering

Intense discussions and a technical document to ensure that the operational guidelines on foster care in Tuscany are more uniform and available with the involvement of all the Foster Centres and their operators, such as social workers and psychologists. The outcome of this journey will be presented at three events on 18 and 20 October and 15 November. “Presentation of the guidelines on foster care”, an event organised by the Region of Tuscany in cooperation with the Regional Documentation Centre for Childhood and Adolescence, is addressed to operators of Foster Centres, social workers, psychologists, operators in local social and health services and third sector organisations. The aim is to report on the updated guidelines on foster care prepared by a working group of the Regional Coordination Unit coordinated by researchers from the Istituto degli Innocenti and CRIA, the Regional Childhood and Adolescence Centre.

The need to introduce new guidelines on fostering

The document stems from the need felt by the operators of Tuscany's Foster Centres to make operating procedures more homogeneous, while taking into account organisational and local peculiarities by promoting a common language and shared operating practices. The idea arose at the meetings of the Regional Coordination Unit of Tuscany’s Foster Centres, within which a working group formed by the operators of five Foster Centres was set up with the task of drawing up a document to be discussed by the entire Coordination Unit.

Comparison between the written and unwritten procedures in the various Foster Centres was the starting point of the document. This first draft was then progressively integrated, modified and expanded. The relevant legal framework is Law no. 184 of 4 May 1983, amended and supplemented by subsequent laws and by Legislative Decree No. 149 of 10 October 2022 for the “Implementation of Law No. 206 of 26 November 2021, delegating the Government to work on the efficiency of the civil process and revise the regulations concerning alternative dispute resolution tools and urgent measures to rationalise proceedings in matters of personal and family rights and in matters of enforcement proceedings”. These procedural guidelines, incorporating the content of the Linee di Indirizzo per l’affidamento familiare e del Sussidiario per operatori e famiglie (Guidelines for family fostering and Handbook for practitioners and families) of the Ministry of Labour and So-cial Policies in collaboration with the University of Padua, supplement and expand regional guidelines. The principles and values that are the foundations of the profession of a social worker, such as respect for the dignity and worth of each person, comprehensiveness, fairness, self-determination and participation, guide the adoption of the aforementioned procedures.

The Regional Coordination Unit on Foster Care and the new document

The document with the new guidelines on fostering is the outcome of the work carried out by a working group of the Regional Coordination Unit coordinated by researchers from the Istituto degli Innocenti and CRIA, the Regional Childhood and Adolescence Centre. The objective of this unit was to make the operational guidelines on fostering more uniform and available throughout the region. The document is divided into seven chapters: the first briefly describes the theoretical frame of reference based on Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of human development; the second chapter briefly outlines the legal framework of family fostering; the third describes the various types of fostering; the fourth outlines the main features of specific types of foster care; the fifth chapter describes the main features of the Foster Centres’ organisational model; the sixth analyses the seven operational areas of Foster Centres; and the last outlines relations with private organisations.

During the three days of discussions, the guidelines on fostering in the three Aree vaste (the administrative level of provinces and metropolitan cities) will be presented. To this end, joint forms will also be drawn up and shared by all Foster Centres. The dates of the meetings are:

- 18 October, South-East Area Vasta at the Baobab Family Centre, Colle Val d'Elsa;

- 20 October, North-West Area Vasta at the Auditorium of the Capannori Health Centre, Capannori;

- 15 November, Central Area Vasta at Sala Blu del Fuligno, Florence