Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina yesterday launched a two-month consultation process on the National Draft Standards for Residential Child Care.

In a brief address, the minister pointed out that the draft document is the final result of four years of work by stakeholders in the sector.

She pointed out that when she became minister four years ago, the services for residential care were fragmented but now there is a stronger dynamism and synergy.

Mrs Cristina said her ministry focused a lot on children – not only through the implementation of laws but also through new structures and services.

She went on to say that parliament approved 12 laws that were drafted by her ministry – including the law on invalidity pensions and pension reform.

“However, the one that is closest to my heart is the Domestic Violence Act and laws that protect children such as the Foster Care Act and the amendments to the Adoption Act,” said Mrs Cristina.

She pointed out that her ministry had set up the office of the Children’s Commissioner to allow children to actively participate in society and in drawing up policies.

Various structures have been implemented such as the one to help children with challenging behaviour, she added.

However, the minister said that a lot more needs to be done and she spoke about the importance of not being complacent.

“When a new service is implemented, one finds that more and more services are needed – this is a measure of the service’s success,” said Mrs Cristina.

The Director of Social Welfare Standards, Kenneth Grech explained that the final document will eventually serve as a guideline for the service providers and will create consistency across the board – “which is very important.

“This document will serve as a template for the manual of procedures that all service providers have,” said Dr Grech.

Furthermore, he added, it will provide peace of mind for both the employers and the employees.

Ultimately, said Dr Grech, the main aim of the document is to ensure that the children in care receive the highest quality of care.

However, he added, resources are still needed, both human and financial, to continue improving the services.