Efeitos da pandemia da covid-19 na proteção socioassistencial a crianças e adolescentes no município de Foz do Iguaçu - PR

Abstract

The global COVID-19 pandemic caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has brought new challenges for the comprehensive social protection of children and adolescents, as social isolation has increased the vulnerability of this population. The study aimed to analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on social assistance protection for children and adolescents in the municipality of Foz do Iguaçu - PR. It is a descriptive, documentary, qualitative and quantitative study. To this end, we analyzed: 1) the public policy interventions carried out during the pandemic period (2020 to 2021), in Foz do Iguaçu - PR, regarding social protection for children and adolescents, from zero to 18 incomplete years, through the documentary analysis of technical notes, decrees and recommendations (municipal, state and federal) specifically of the comprehensive protection public policies that were considered essential during the pandemic; 2) Numerical data on child and adolescent care, and public investments in the pre-pandemic period (2018 and 2019) and in the pandemic (2020 and 2021) in Social Assistance in Foz do Iguaçu - PR; 3) Semistructured interviews with social assistance managers and civil servants and professionals from the municipality's Child and Adolescent Rights Guarantee System (SGDCA). As a result, part of the public policies referenced in the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS) during the COVID-19 pandemic underwent changes from the perspective of care involving the protection of children and adolescents, with priority given to food security. There was a reduction in face-to-face care at the Specialized Social Assistance Reference Centers, which are referenced in special social protection, with remote monitoring of families, and this factor exposed the exponential increase in repressed demand by 89.4% during the pandemic. There was also a reduction in funding (an average reduction of 45% in 2020 and 61.8% in 2021) in the municipality's special social protection area, which provides services exclusively for children and adolescents at risk of violence. There was also a 19.4% reduction in the number of children and adolescents taken into care, a decision made in conjunction with the district's Child and Youth Court. The interviewees' perception was that, even with the adaptations that took place during the period and with the continuity of social assistance, there was a loss in care, an increase in social disprotection and greater invisibility of children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is concluded that the coverage of protections during the pandemic did not reach the universality recommended, evidenced by the violation of rights and gaps in social protection services during the period analyzed, due to structural exclusions in the country that need to be debated and eradicated.