Formentera to get shelter for at-risk under-12s

foto 2021 centre de diaThe Formentera Department of Social Welfare is working to secure a residential shelter for children under the age of 12 who are in unsafe situations. The 10-bed centre will be located beside the adult day care facility in Formentera’s medical services hub, and the project, coordinated by local government and scheduled for completion in three years, has already secured funding to the tune of €370,000, including €150,000 in EU funds for economic recovery.

Social welfare chief Rafael Ramírez said the future refuge would enable “improved care for island kids whose domestic settings are not safe”. Formentera currently has no live-in services for children in unsafe situations and relies on neighbouring islands’ facilities for help, with all the inconveniences that entails. Ramírez said the home would “put us in a position to give individualised and family care for our under-12 service beneficiaries, thus creating a better environment for mental and social care”.

About 30% of minors receiving FDSW services could use the home, meaning the facility marks a considerable improvement in quality of care, allowing at-risk minors to remain on the island and in their community.

Councillor Ramírez called the future shelter “a resource for vulnerable families”, insisting such vulnerability is a problem which “specifically affects the most frequent carers and parents: women”.


16 August 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera