• 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.

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.

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.

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.

Currently in operation.

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. 

N/A

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.

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* 

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.

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. 

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

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

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.

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).

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.

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.

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 pandemic^9.

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.