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In 1985, the Swiss Foundation Terre des hommes,
established in Brazil a late adoption inter-racial program
for children and adolescents in shelter institutions,
at that time known as orphanages. This program, under
the coordination of Claudia Cabral – ABTH
current Executive Director – conducted international
adoptions of children above 5, mostly black and many
physically or mentally impaired, who found no placement
in Brazilian foster families.
Throughout this period, it was found that 80% of children in institutions in Brazil have some sort of recoverable family bond, therefore a form of securing the right to family and community contact, the best environment for the development and education of all children. Therefore, as of 1992, the project started to focus on birth families as well, and family re-integration activities started to develop.
During the implementation of the projects, all the
knowledge gained by ABTH is compiled into a system,
constituting an array of methodological publications
aiming at disseminating and replicating the actions
at national scale.
In 1997, the Associação Brasileira Terra dos Homens - ABTH, a legally independent institution, was founded seeking new partnerships for carrying out its work. As a result, the scope of action was expanded offering professional training for services to children and adolescents and representation of society in policy making and rights protection. Through the dissemination of methodologies and the protection of rights, the activities became more comprehensive producing better results, having an effective impact on public policies and on the child and youth protection services system.
Throughout its history, ABTH action has relied
on the principle that child protection services must
take into consideration the context into which the child
is inserted; family and community. It is vital to invest
in strengthening the families to avert situations of
child and adolescent rights violation, when they find
themselves living on the streets, in shelters or as
victims of domestic abuse.
In 2003, ABTH was certified as a Federal Entity
of Public Interest. And in 2006 it became certified
as a State Entity of Public Interest and Social Assistance
Beneficiary.
In one decade of operation, over 11 000 children and
youngsters, and 4 000 families, have directly benefited
from ABTH projects. Through professional training,
around 18.000 children and adolescents have indirectly
benefited.
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