Appeal for foster families in Malaga as more than a 100 children in need of homes

More foster families are needed as children in desperate need of homes in Malaga city increases. Fundación Hogar Abierto (Open Home Foundation) has taken over Calle Larios to raise awareness as part of a special appeal. "The aim of this campaign is to find [families] and raise awareness of fostering because there are more than 100 children who are in need of a family right now," said psychologist and coordinator of the foundation in Malaga, Marisol Romero.

The busiest and most famous street of Malaga city has been filled with 80 photographs of famous people from all walks of life with children: from Manuel Alcántara, the Duchess of Alba or Mario Vargas Llosa to Sara Baras, Salva Reina or Joan Manuel Serrat. These are images that Fundación Hogar Abierto has been compiling since 2011 for its calendars and are now on show in Calle Larios as part of an agreement with the Junta de Andalucía.

Foster care "is the most appropriate measure of protection for many children, as well as being the most supportive resource for family integration and reintegration, always respecting the identity of the child and promoting their education and overall development as a person," the foundation said. There are currently some 540 children in this situation in Malaga, but there are never enough families, the foundation added.

The children who are in this situation arrive at the centres either because their parents are in a period of rehab, suffering from mental illness or because they are unable to take care of them for a period of time. As a result, there are various types of foster care, which Fundación Hogar Abierto told SUR: "Emergency foster care, in which there is a guard and if a child needs a family at 3am, they do not pass through the reception centre, but go directly to the family. There is another form which is temporary and lasts for a maximum of two years with children ranging from newborns to 15 or 16; in this case it is foreseen that the family's situation can be solved. Then there is permanent, which is when the family has a very chronic problem in which the social services have a much longer job and know that the child cannot be reintegrated in the medium or long term," said the president of the foundation Alberto Peláez and coordinator Marisol Romero.

The clear objective of foster care is for the child to return to his or her biological family. "But if the family does not overcome the problems they have, they move on to permanent foster care, which in some cases ends up in adoption," Romero said. "All families have the help of social educators, psychologists, therapists... And there is paid foster care for professionals who are willing to take in a child with special needs," she added.

Some 80 photographs in Calle Larios aim to draw the attention of the people of Malaga who are willing to give this help to so many children in need. "Malaga is generous and we hope to raise awareness among the population so that they are encouraged to join our network of foster families, which is a spectacular and wonderful experience. You can see how the children turn around 180 degrees thanks to fostering," Romero pointed out.

For more information about Open Home Foundation, visit their headquarters at calle Barroso, 7. Telephone 952 122 566 or visit their website at www.hogarabierto.org.