Casa de Acolhida -- Tijuca (Tijuca reception house)
The Casa de Acolhida is a shelter for homeless adolescents run as a partnership between Fundação Fe e Alegria (a Spanish foundation) and the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. It is the third phase of a three-step program, so most children have been in the system for four to five months before they come here. The program promotes family-type interaction, schooling, and job training.
Because many children have been “in the system,” (in jail, in shelters, in foster care) the Casa emphasizes de-institutionalization. This means reintegration with the family, learning to live independently, and learning to solve problems without professional help. The Casa does not have “laws for the program,” but “laws for life.” Clients meet every fifteen days to revise rules, discuss how the program might improve, etc.
Clients publish their own newspaper, an excellent (and inexpensive) sub-program.
Workshops generally focus on issues of independence: identity, privacy, respect for others, work and savings, family life, etc. Sexuality is an important issue, and addressed explicitly. The children have produced an excellent book on sexually transmitted diseases. Unlike many shelters, the Casa is co-ed, and staff believe this to be part of its success. Though there are clearly problems, no one would prefer a single gender house.
Though it is often difficult to reintegrate children with their families, the Casa believes that it is very important for children to have some sort of family connection, whether with an aunt, a grandmother, or the parents of a good friend.
Rua Desembargador Isidro 48
Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, RJ
20521-160
tel-fax 21 503 3714
Contact: Tereza Scofano (email through Claúdio da Silva <fealerj@alternex.com.br>)
