More than 20,000 boys and girls receive socio-educational support from CaixaProinfancia in Catalonia

With the start of the school year, the La Caixa Foundation reinforces, once again, its socio-educational accompaniment and support program for children in vulnerable situations. This year, CaixaProinfancia will accompany more than 20,000 children and adolescents from 13,000 vulnerable families in Catalonia, offering them continuous support in their educational and personal development.In Spain as a whole, the program will reach more than 65,000 children and adolescents from 41,000 families.The program's objective is to fight child poverty by providing socio-educational support throughout the school year so that children and adolescents from families with economic difficulties can progress on equal terms. To this end, CaixaProinfancia offers services such aseducational reinforcement, psychological care, speech therapy, family workshops and leisure and free time activities,as well as aid to cover basic needs such as food, hygiene, school equipment, or specific products, such as glasses and hearing aids.

"We want to ensure that no child is left behind due to their family's economic difficulties. Our commitment is that all families can start the school year on equal terms, with the resources and support necessary for their personal and educational development. Education is the best tool we have to break the cycle of poverty and build a more just society," said the director of the CaixaProinfancia program, Albert Rodríguez.

This support is provided througha network of more than 400 social entities throughout Spainin collaboration with educational centers and public administrations, which allows adapting the support to the specific needs of each territory and each family.CaixaProinfancia serves families in various types of vulnerable situations"There are situations of poverty, of violence and, in other cases, there are also emotional or psychological aspects that prevent children from progressing. In addition, we are seeing more and more learning disorders and situations of children with autism," details Hernández, who is a pedagogue by training and has been working for 13 years at Redes Cooperativa, one of the 400 social entities that are part of the CaixaProinfancia support network.

The situations are varied and the program adapts to them: "Each family is a world. We work a lot through person-centered care and we accompany the needs of each of these families," explains Hernández. The profiles of the children who participate are also varied, but in many cases they have in common the existence of "significant educational difficulties due to their situation of vulnerability." "Some live situations in their environment that can cause blockages and learning problems. This prevents a normalized development within the educational world," explains Hernández. As for families, they have material needs, but also needs for "emotional and learning support to face situations and be able to cope," details the pedagogue.

School supplies to start the school year in equality

In this context and due to the back to school, the program also includes the delivery of school supply kits adapted to the different educational stages —early childhood, primary and secondary— with the aim of alleviating family expenses and fostering the motivation of minors in their return to the classrooms. Each kit includes a backpack and the basic material corresponding to each age.

Breaking the cycle of poverty through education

In Spain, 1 out of 3 children is at risk of poverty or social exclusion. CaixaProinfancia has been working for 17 years to break the cycle of inherited poverty and promote the comprehensive development of children and adolescents in disadvantaged contexts.

The program aims to strengthen school competencies, improve self-esteem, enhance autonomy in learning, and contribute to the social inclusion of children and young people who need it most. All of this, with a common goal: to foster equal opportunities among those who start from a more vulnerable situation.