Foster Care
Foster Care
- What is it?
Foster Care is a measure to promote the rights and protection of children, with a transitional and temporary nature, which is aimed to provide the child or young person with a family environment, essential for their physical and emotional well-being and their harmonious development.
- Who can be a host family?
- A natural person;
- Two persons married with each other or living in a de facto relationship; *
- Two or more persons linked by kinship and who are members of the same household; *
- None of these persons can be a relative of the foster child or young person.
- Foster care applying conditions:
- To be aged over 25;
- Not to be a candidate for adoption;
- To have physical and mental health conditions, attested by medical certification;
- To have adequate housing with hygiene and safety conditions to accommodate children and young people;
- To be a person of good repute to carry out the host family care response;
- Not to have been indicted by the judicial authority, charged, pronounced or convicted, even without the force of res judicata, for an intentional offence against life, physical integrity and personal freedom or sexual freedom or self-determination;
- Not to be inhibited from the exercise of parental responsibilities, or have limited exercise of parental responsibilities because it poses a danger to the safety, health, moral values and education of the child.
- How to apply/Where to get information
The Social Security Institute and the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (Portuguese charitable organisation) are the only two entities with competence in this matter; therefore, if you are interested in becoming a host family and your residence is in the municipalities of Amadora, Cascais, Lisbon, Loures, Mafra, Odivelas , Oeiras, Sintra and Vila Franca de Xira, the entity responsible for the case examination is the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa.
In all other municipalities in Portugal, the responsible entity is the Social Security Institute.
- For further information, click on the following links:
- Responsible entity
- Contact details:
ISS, IP: iss-acolhimentofamiliar@seg-social.pt