Uruguay presents the Protocol for the attention and support of children with incarcerated parents

Since 2014 several government institutions and civil society organizations working in the development of this project aim to define actions to support children and adolescents with relatives in a situation of deprivation of liberty. The organization Gurises Unidos, representing the platform, contributes through the Child Rights Committee of Uruguay. Also participating in this process was the Ministry of the Interior, the Institute of Child and Adolescent of Uruguay, the Ministry of Social Development and the Judiciary, along with many others.

The Protocol provides regulations to follow in all stages of criminal proceedings where children and adolescents are present, from the arrest to the release of their parent or caregiver.

Some of the recommendations are related to the cases of pregnant women. It is advised that they are given house arrest.So they may have access to food, shelter, health care, education and employment opportunities. Additional resources are available to these women, if at home to support the normal development of the child. It also urges the technical teams to incorporate various avenues of social family strengthening.

Once the children are directly affected by incarceration of their parent, the issue of visitation time becomes present.It is advised that time should not limit the entry of children and adolescents and that family friendly spaces are created inside the prisons.

Lastly, the initiative includes a interagency discussion aimed at monitoring the effective implementation of this protocol and a series of training workshops for leaders and officials that are responsible for the criminal proceedings. In total, 170 officials from nineteen departments have already been trained.


Download the protocol here