“There have been difficulties in applying this new law”

The Minister of Social Development and Family, Javiera Tororecognized the problems in the Best Childhood Service with the use of gift cards that use centers throughout the country to acquire supplies for vulnerable children and whose amount would reach $2 billion.

The case, uncovered by The counter, was revealed with a complaint from a Ripley store in Arica, in which a representative of a venue linked to Mejor Niñez bought clothes for teenagers, but a few days later she wanted to exchange them for other products for her personal use. Other centers throughout the country are being investigated.

In conversation with Al Pan Pan con Mirna Schindler, the minister said that “here there is a situation that arises as a result of a case in Arica and from which the Specialized Protection Service begins a series of investigations and audits. Therefore, internally, an investigation is being carried out that today accounts for some amounts that would have been and would have been misused or that added misuse. They have observations due to lack of surrender or other such situations.”

“It is necessary to be able to exhaust these investigations to point out what happened. But we, from the Ministry, together with the Undersecretary of Children, have instructed to carry out all judicial and administrative actions to get to the bottom of this matter. And that includes various actions that are already being carried out by the Specialized Protection Service, such as audits, summaries, complaints that have been made to the Public Ministry,
in addition to conversations and communications that have already been had with the Comptroller General of the Republic and the State Defense Council,” he added.

“It is a really worrying situation because it is inappropriate that resources that are intended, precisely for the children and adolescents who are under the protection of the service, do not currently have support or are being misused,” he added.

Mejor Niñez arrived to replace the questioned Sename. However, the controversies have not disappeared with the new service. Due to this, the minister recognized that “without a doubt, the specialized protection of children and adolescents who are under the responsibility of the State is precisely a very serious responsibility and one that requires the maximum effort to be able to reach protection in a timely manner.” of these boys and girls.”

“We are in the process of implementing the new system and in the transition between the old system that was under the administration of Sename in the Ministry of Justice to finally the creation of the specialized protection service at the end of 2021 and then during the period of our government, we have identified some difficulties both in the design and in the implementation of this service,” he indicated.

“For this reason, through the Undersecretariat for Children, the Ministry is directly supervising the operation of the service because we are especially concerned that this transition that sought to end precisely some practices and logic installed in the service could advance,” he assured.

“Indeed, there have been difficulties in the implementation of this new law, distinguishing that today children or adolescents who are in alternative care can be precisely in residences, in family residences, they can be in the care of foster families and when not “It is from the residence, they can be directly administered or they can be from collaborating organizations precisely in this matter,” he concluded.