| PIM� BRAZIL:�
A PUBLIC POLICY ON� FAMILIES AND CHILDREN PLACED AT RISK
���� Arita Bergmann, PhD in Social Work
���� M anager of “Better Early Childhood Development
Program”
����������������������� ���������Leila Almeida, Master in
Social Work
���� Coordinator of “Better Early Childhood� Development
Program”
����������������������� ������� Maria da Gra�a Gomes Paiva,
PhD in Education
���� UNESCO Consultant, “Better Early Childhood Development
Program”
���� State Secretariat of Health, Brazil
������� Summary
�������������� The need to implement socio-educational
early childhood development programs that provide effective childcare
to families and children placed at risk is among the priorities,
as public policy, of the government of the State of Rio Grande
do Sul, Brazil. According
to SINASC-SIS, Rio Grande do Sul has a population of over 12 million
people, out of whom 513, 030 are children from 0 to 3 and 1,045.295
are children ranged from 0 to 6 years of age. Yet, only� 263,064
children from 0 to 6 have been regularly attending baby care houses
and/or pre-schooling, whereas 728,231 are still out of the mainstream
and placed at risk� due to dramatic socio-economic differences.
Better Early Childhood Development Program (PIM) - a
differentiated public policy and joint Program between the State
Secretariat of Health, the State Secretariat of Education, The
State Secretariat of Work, Citizenship� and Social Welfare, and
the State Secretariat of Culture with the technical and international
support of CELEP, Cuba, and UNESCO - aims at providing effective
guidance� to low-income/ placed-at-risk families and communities
to enable them to adequately stimulate� and promote healthier
whole development of capabilities and potentials� of their children
aged from 0 to 6. From a multidisciplinary and intersectorial
theoretical bases, PIM is being implemented in the
communities of 156 municipal districts in the State of Rio Grande
do Sul, Brazil, through
different modalities: pregnancy care, individual and group childcare�
support. Trained and regularly supervised 346 Visitors,� once
a week, help around 8,650 parents/ child takers to become active
participants and educators of their children (approximately 11,000
children so far) in their houses and communities.� Diagnostic
evaluation of the families, children and/or pregnant mothers that
participate in the Program is the first step of the implementation
of PIM in the municipal districts officially subscribed in the
Program. Continuing Educational Development Programs have been
regularly offered to members of the different Technical Teams
of� the different Committees that are in charge of PIM.� The present
presentation aims at reporting the data recently� collected concerning
the evaluation of a representative sample of the Program, having
some municipal districts, families, children and communities�
as references so as to investigate the� current effectiveness
and achievements of PIM for the last two years of its implementation
in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. Further achievements and/or
implications of such findings will sum up the presentation.
KEY WORDS :� PUBLIC POLICY� -� FAMILIES AND CHILDREN PLACED
AT RISK-
CHILDCARE - INTERSECTORIAL LINKS� -��� |
