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Argentina Federation for Family Support (Federación Argentina Apoyo
Familiar - FAAF) is a private, ecumenic, apollitical institution born in
La Plata in 1984, with the aim of helping extremely needed families.
Economic crisis, low salaries and long distances between the poor surroundings of big cities and working places, usually make that parents of poor children must be out working all day long leaving their children alone. Even though, their salaries don't cover their basic needs.
FAAF gathers 167 centers, including Children Houses and
Workshops
for teenagers, assisting 7500 children nationwide.
In each Children House, kids between 3 and 13 years old
are welcome
from 7:30 AM to 7:00 PM. Children receive education, health and moral
support as well as healthy food (breakfast, lunch and snack) and a warm
and caring place that estimulates their development.
In the last years, FAAF developed some cooperative bussines
or
workshops for teenagers formerly assisted and Children Houses, where
they can have an income of their own, and make the apprenticeship
needed to get an independent job.
Around the "Children Houses" several activities
are carried out, such as
alphabetization programs for adults, preventive medicine, job searching,
house cooperative through selfachievement, educational talks about AIDS,
alcohol abbuse, family violence, cholera prevention, etc. aimed to all
members of the assisted families and to the community to which they belong.
The FAAF helps founding new Children Houses and gives technical support to those already at function, but each House is self governed, and encouraged to obtain the necessary resources to carry out its task. FAAF habitually help the needed families to assume the responsibility of direct and develope their own "Children House".
All these self-directed centers are contained within
a matrix structure, which is the Argentina Federation for Family Support.
FAAF has the recognition of the OAS, the United Nations and European Union,
and other national and international organizations.(we attache our last
recognitions).
of the AFs (Asociations of Family Support) running Children Houses.
FAAF
functions on subsidiarity and descentralization principles. Each
House is autonomous, and is legally a non-profit institution on its own,
according to the local conditions. The only formal link to the Federation
is the acceptance of the Fundamental Declaration and Basis in the
constitution of FAAF.
This means that all children Houses must be private, apolitical,
ecumenic, non profits organization and give free service to children.
Even if they are run by a catholic parish or laity community, they have
to guarentee the ecumenical and pluralistic approach to children and
families. FAAF also denied to open some new Houses because the
asking group seemed too involved in local political struggles.
Each Asociation (AAF) has a Directive Commision, elected by the
societary assembly members (parents, staff, volonteers, donors, etc)
according to national laws regulating civil associations. The societary
share may be of $1 or $2 a month and it allows parents to know they
are the effective "owners" and responsibles of the House.
Each House has a regular staff (a Director, teachers and assistants),
who receive a small salary. The proffesional staff (doctors, dentist,
social workers, psicologysts, lawers, gymn teachers, etc.) is
volonteered and works ad honorem. All of them report to the House
Directive Commission autorities.
The Directive Commission follows the ordinary development of the
Children Houses, and is linked to the National Federation.
The National Federation (FAAF) has a Directive Commission of 20
members who works on a volontary-but-fully-dedicated basis. They
feed the network between Houses, visit and help them, publish
periodical reports, give technichal advice and warm encouragement to
new and old Asociations, open new contacts in new provinces, find
local and international sources of founding direct national training
programs, travel up and down and do everything they can... and more.
Since 1984, Ana Mon is been the soul and the most active promoter of
the Children Houses. Even if her full-time, carismatic leadership is
evident, the autonomy of the Houses has prevent FAAF to depend
exclusevely on her to go on growing.
1.
The program aims at the growth and development of children and
teenagers, and gives support also to their families.
2. The program assists 7.500
children and their families in a
cost-effective way in Argentina.
3. The program involves
children and their families in planning,
implementation, evaluation and dissemination to the fullest extent
possible.
4. The program had an impact
on participants' competencies,
confidence and character.
5. The program focuses on
early prevention, giving working families
the possibility of prevent their children from the work of the streets.
6. The program places its
primary emphasis on promoting the character
and confidence of children, their scholar perfomance and social
integration.
7. The program provides
monitoring, evaluation and feedback through
National Directive Commision periodical surveys, through Asociations
Directive Commisions supervision and parents meetings contributions.
8. The program demostrates
to be a real human resource FAAF gives a
great importance to staff and community leaders training. With the help
of private sponsors, they have developed since 1991 a national program
of promotion and capacitacion of community leaders. The extremely
difficult national circunstances during FAAF growing years-hiper
inflation, riots, industrial crisis and massive firings of workers in
the
Great Buenos Aires, drastic changes in economical and social policies
from 1985 to 1991, etc.- has provenm the great institutional stability
and its adaptability to changing circunstances.
9. The organization demonstrates
managerial capacity to carry all
activities. The sources in envolving a large number of proffessional
voluntaires and the dedication of their directives comissions allowes
FAAF develop a highly professional performance at a very low cost.
1O. Long term programmatic and financial strategies are in place.
11. The program is coordinated
as appropiate, with other children and
youth services. FAAF is regular links with other institutions working
specifically on drug and alchol abbuse, familiar violence,
alphabetization, etc.
12. The program includes
features or components that appear to be
appropriate also in other context: The program or some of it elements
are being replicated in other contexts. The significative expansion of
Children Houses in very different environements (from southern
Patagonia to Formosa), and the international interest arosed shows the
FAAF approach appears to be appropriate also in other contexts.
13. The program responds
to local needs and meaningfully involves
communities, families and local organizations. FAAF involves
succesfully catholic and non-catolic groups, parishes and local
communities, as well as public and private institutions, to help build
and give permanent support Houses.
14. It has influence the
development or implementation of public or
private policies on children and youth.
15. Has promoted favorable
changes in social practices in families and
communities related to children and youth development.
FAAF was born only eighteen years ago, it is already
one of the best
known experiences in this field.
F.A.A.F.
Federación Argentina de Apoyo Familiar y C.I.A.F. Confederación
Internacional de Apoyo Familiar
Calle 33 Número 1118. La Plata. Cp. 1900. Tel/Fax: 54 (0221) 422-3734
/ 422-9328