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The Happy Child / Early Childhood Program of SUAS (PCF)
Children and adolescents
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#1
Programs
Geographic coverage:
Relevant for:
Children and adolescents
Women and girls

Description

The Happy Child/Early Childhood Program of SUAS (“Criança Feliz”-PCF), established in 2016, aims to promote integral development in early childhood, through family monitoring and home visits. Integrated into the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS), PCF articulates with the National Social Assistance Policy (PNAS) and other public policies to strengthen attention to families of children up to six years old. 

The program consists of a set of structured actions that contribute to early childhood cognitive development following the UNICEF and WHO Care for Child Development (CCD) protocol. This protocol is characterized by a set of playful activities through periodic home visits by a trained professional; the support and monitoring of integral child development; collaboration in the exercise of parenting; mediation of children's and their families' access to public policies and services they need; and the integration, expansion and strengthening of public policy actions aimed at this age group.

PCF has a dimension of training other SUAS social assistance services to promote the interiorization of these practices by families with children during their early childhood. 

The main axis of PCF, however, is characterized by a protocol of regular structured visits to homes with pregnant women and children from 0 to 36 months (and in some cases 72 months). The visits are guided by an Action Plan that identifies each family's priorities and sets goals for their realization, also offering pre-determined playful and informative activities.

The priority is to offer structured visits to families benefiting from the Bolsa Família Program (PBF), Continuous Cash Benefit (BPC) and a protective measure determined by the judiciary branch, although every family registered in the Single Registry with pregnant women or children from 0 to 36 months are also eligible on a non-priority basis. Families who are beneficiaries of BPC or under protective measures receive care until the child reaches 72 months.

State and municipal governments must adhere to the program and ensure structuring management committees are in place, with an assigned coordinator, that set targets and define the financial contributions of each counterpart. Qualified SUAS professionals act as supervisors responsible for visiting teams composed of professionals hired by the city hall and subject to standard program training1,2,3,4

In the current context, PCF is undergoing reorganization and improvement, focusing on management qualification, implementation of a monitoring system and intersectoral integration. 

Name of components or subcomponents
  • Coordination with other SUAS services so that they also promote good practices with families.

  • Structured visits with families with children aged 0 to 72 months.


     
Federal Government managing body (expense authorizer)

The National Secretariat for Social Assistance (SNAS) of the Ministry of Social Development and Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger – MDS (which during 2019-2022 was designated Ministry of Citizenship – MC), by means of an inter-federative SUAS management structure.

Main implementing partner at the municipal level

Subnational governments through CRAS, and visitors specifically hired to carry out structured visits, and trained to do so according to the specific protocol of the program.

Initiative start date

PCF was instituted through Decree No. 8.869, of October 5, 2016, and consolidated by Decree No. 9.579, of November 22, 2018. Originally aimed only at families benefiting from PBF and BPC, with the publication of Ordinance No. 1.217, of July 1, 2019, pregnant women and children up to 36 months old included in the Single Registry for Social Programs of the Federal Government also started to compose a priority public for PCF.

Initiative end date

Currently in operation.

Descriptive typology(ies) of the initiative

It is a program to strengthen bonds and responsive care of an intersectoral nature aiming at access to health, education, culture and human rights and policies. 

Conditionalities

N/A

Target groups / eligibility criteria

CNAS Resolution No. 07, of May 22, 2017, characterizes as eligible for the program the municipalities that:

1. Have a Social Assistance Reference Center – CRAS;

2. Have at least 140 (one hundred and forty) individuals from the Program's priority audience.

At the level of individuals and families, the following are eligible:

1. Pregnant women, children up to 36 months and their families included in the Single Registry for Social Programs of the Federal Government;

2. Children up to 62 months and their families benefiting from BPC; 

3. Children up to 62 months separated from their families of origin due to the application of a protection measure provided for in art. 101, main provision, items VII and VIII, of Law No. 8.069, of July 13, 1990, and their families.

With the approval of the PCF reordering through CNAS/MDS Resolution No. 117, of August 28, 2023, additional priority groups should be included for the service. 

As per Art. 5,Home visits should prioritize pregnant women and children from 0 to 72 months and their families, in particular:

  1. Children from 0 to 36 months registered in the Single Registry for Social Programs (CadÚnico);

  2. Children from 0 to 72 months benefiting from the Continuous Cash Benefit (BPC);

  3. Families benefiting from the Early Childhood Benefit of the Bolsa Família Program (PBF);

  4. Children who have lost at least one of their family members due to COVID 19 or feminicide;

  5. Children and pregnant women from traditional peoples and communities as well as rural, forest, and riverine populations, 

  6. Homeless children and pregnant women;

  7. Migrant, stateless and refugee children and pregnant women;

  8. Children and pregnant women in protective measures;

  9. Pregnant and nursing women registered in the Single Registry for Social Programs (CadÚnico); and

Pregnant women who receive the family variable benefit of the Bolsa Família Program.

Eligibility verification mechanisms and the role of administrative records and other databases

Only people duly registered in the Single Registry are eligible for structured visits, but the PCF also has a coordination component with other SUAS services that, in turn, end up promoting the registration of people with the Single Registry.

Pregnancy and child age criteria are determined based on the Single Registry, which mixes self-declared information (as in the case of income and occupation) and based on documentation (as in the case of family composition), and subsequently determined at the time of visits.


Estimated coverage of the initiative

4,278 of the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities are eligible for PCF (SNAS/MDS)[1]. Since January 2019, a total of 3,014 (e-PCF/MDS) municipalities have joined the program, providing the individual coverage expressed in the table below, with an average of 3.7 monthly visits per beneficiary.

PCF Coverage. Individuals benefiting from the structured visits and number of visits carried out each year. Brazil, 2018-22* 


 

 

Year 

2018 

2019 

2020 

2021 

2022 

A) Average number of children visited  

395.672 

440.631 

B) Average number of pregnant women visited   

40.124 

41.654 

C) Average number of beneficiaries visited (A+B) 

435.796 

482.285 

D) Average number of visits made per child    

682.504 

1.169.837 

1.265.864 

1.521.786 

1.692.906 

E) Average number of visits per pregnant woman   

27.942 

37.726 

37.371 

56.707 

82.084 

F) Average number of visits made (D+E)   

710.447 

1.207.563 

1.303.234 

1.578.494 

1.774.990 


[1] The eligibility of municipalities is calculated from the total of the priority public available in the CadÚnico, BPC and SICON databases. 
* Data referring only to the January-April 2022 period

Description of the benefits

It is recommended that structured visits take place on a weekly basis, whenever possible. The Federal Government's resources allocated to the program must be sufficient to cover team costs according to a table that defines the relationship between the size and composition of the teams according to the number people to be monitored. In addition, there is a provision for transfer to the municipality equivalent to R$ 75.00 per month per beneficiary who receives structured visits.

Benefit delivery methods

Services implemented mainly at the home of the beneficiaries, but there is coordination with other SUAS services and active search activities that may include collective activities in public spaces. 

Annual budget / expenses

 

Budget execution (in millions of BRL), actual values (adjusted by IPCA/IBGE (December 2022)5

 

 

2017

R$ 312.382,00

2018

R$ 449.567,00

2019

R$ 857.221,00

2020

R$ 1.221.219,00

** Dados referentes apenas ao período janeiro-abril de 2022

Positive findings regarding the efficiency of the initiative

Qualitative analysis commissioned by the MDS indicates a perception that there are desirable effects by improving family bonds, providing information on rights, services and public programs, and effectively increasing the access of beneficiary families to these initiatives. It is also important to note the perception of continuity in the relationship between families and other CRAS services once the child exceeds the maximum age for PCF6.

Another study highlights an environment of broad political support, adequate regulation, alignment of agendas with other SUAS services, positive perception on the part of the benefited families and availability to carry out an impact assessment7.

A dissertation on PCF identified that 89.22% of the municipalities in the Northeast adhered to the PCF; 70.79% in the North; 39.67% in the Midwest; 38.86% in the Southeast; and 13.26% in the South, a region with the lowest percentage of municipalities that adhered to the program. The study also points out that more than 90% of PCF coordinators at the municipal level are professionals who already work in Social Assistance. Questionnaire completed by program operators also indicate that the allocation of resources is very satisfactory for structured visit activities, coordination with basic health units, day centers and preschools, but only regular or unsatisfactory regarding actions coordinated with cultural agencies, guardianship councils and law councils. The degree of satisfaction with the coordination of PCF and these areas follows a similar pattern8.

Most relevant aspects aimed at children and adolescents

It is an initiative specifically aimed at pregnant women and children from 0 to 36 months of age (or 72 months in the case of children in families benefiting from BPC or who are under a protective measure decreed by the court).

Most relevant aspects aimed at the inclusion of women and girls

The focus on early childhood also includes pregnant women. The mother is the primary reference person in the coordination with the family, though there is encouragement for parents and other caregivers to also participate in the activities.

Main points of intersectorality of the initiative

In addition to the structured visits carried out by visitors, there is intersectoral coordination promoted by the PCF committee in each state and municipality that adheres to the initiative. These activities include other SUAS services, but also services in the areas of health, education, culture and rights guarantee system.

Actions taken by the initiative during the Covid pandemic

Criteria for remote "visits" were regulated in municipalities that deemed physical visits inappropriate to continue. Remote services were regulated so that they could occur through telephone, WhatsApp and other available media. Thus, the program continued to receive funding from the Federal Government throughout the pandemic9.

References
  1. GoB, Min. da Cidadania. 2020. “Manual de Gestão Municipal do Programa Criança Feliz”. https://www.gov.br/cidadania/pt-br/acoes-e-programas/crianca-feliz/publicacoes-1/Manual_Gestor_PCF_1012.pdf.

  2. GoB, Min. de Desenvolvimento Social. 2018. “SUAS e Programa Criança Feliz. Atuação integrada.” https://www.mds.gov.br/webarquivos/publicacao/assistencia_social/Cadernos/Interac%CC%A7a%CC%83o%20SUAS%20e%20Crianc%CC%A7a%20%20Feliz%20final%20completo%20-%20Diagramado.pdf.

  3. WWP. 2016. “Brazil launches Happy Child, a program focused on early childhood”. 5 de outubro de 2016. http://wwp.org.br/en/brazil-launches-happy-child-a-program-focused-on-early-childhood/.

  4. WWP. 2017. “Fact Sheet on the Participation of the Unified Social Assistance System in the Happy Child Program”. http://wwp.org.br/en/publication/fact-sheet-on-the-participation-of-the-unified-social-assistance-system-in-the-happy-child-program/.
  5. GoB, Min. da Cidadania. 2021. “Cadernos SUAS 2021. Financiamento da Assistência Social no Brasil”.
  6. GoB, Min. da Cidadania. 2022. “Avaliação de implementação do Programa Criança Feliz. Relatório Final.” https://aplicacoes.mds.gov.br/sagi/pesquisas/documentos/relatorio/relatorio_0211.pdf.
  7. Buccini, Gabriela, Sonia Isoyama Venancio, e Rafael Peréz-Escamilla. 2021. “Scaling up of Brazil’s Criança Feliz early childhood development program: an implementation science analysis”. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, março. https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/nyas.14589.
  8. Montoya, Natalia Puentes, Roberta de Miranda Silvestre, e Vanessa Yumi Fujinaga Souto. 2018. “Programa Criança Feliz: um olhar para as ações intersetoriais de primeira infância”. https://bibliotecadigital.fgv.br/dspace/bitstream/handle/10438/25719/TCC%20-%20Politicas%20de%20Primeira%20Infancia_com%20%20ajustes%20secretaria.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y.
  9. GoB, Min. da Cidadania. 2020a. “Orientação Técnica. A visita domiciliar do Programa Criança Feliz/ Primeira Infância no SUAS. Em contexto de pandemia e isolamernto social.” junho. https://www.pim.saude.rs.gov.br/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/PCF_Orienta%C3%A7%C3%A3o-T%C3%A9nica-_-A-Visita-Domiciliar-do-Programa-Crian%C3%A7a-Feliz-em-contexto-de-pandemia.pdf.