Making the family relationships of the unaccompanied youth visible: an opportunity to include a new actor in children care

Abstract

The objective of this article is to identify those situations where the families of fostered unaccompanied migrant children are made visible in order to favor the incorporation of these families into the pathway planning. The study design is qualitative exploratory. The fieldwork was carried out in Spain and involved working groups with specialized professionals. The results show that the authorities responsible for the foster care completely ignore the families although these are present in the daily life of the unaccompanied children. The few professionals and resources that include the families in the intervention agree that, doing so, the fostering process becomes much easier and smoother. The research concludes that a social work based on a decolonized and transnational perspective is essential to implement educational strategies and gain access to a legal status that favor a positive incorporation of the families into the intervention.