The mission “Saint Michael the Archangel” is located in Barbacena, Brazil, in the Minas Gerais region. The approach to the activity carried out by the mission “Saint Michael the Archangel” is not institutional, but based on family values and just like in a large family it takes total care of the educational path of the children welcomed. The suffering suffered at an early age leaves marks that only constant and adequate socio-pedagogical intervention, combined with a safe and continuous emotional relationship with educators, can erase or attenuate.

Live-in children

The children who live-in are those who constantly live within the mission and are entrusted to “Saint Michael the Archangel” (the only equipped center in the area), by five jurisdictions of various courts that operate within a 120 km radius.

The foster care process is complex and involves the intervention of the Council for the Protection of Children and Adolescents of the City Municipality, in collaboration with the Social Assistance Sector of the Court who, together, study the various conditions of marginalization.

Once the need for foster care has been confirmed, “Saint Michael the Archangel” is consulted which, through its social workers, in turn evaluates the general situation of the minor, to reach a conscious and motivated decision on his entry into the community.

Two eventualities may occur during your stay:

that the child remains in the community until he reaches the age of eighteen, with all the benefits that derive from it
that the Court decides on the return to the family or starts an adoption procedure (the latter in the case of very young children)

External children

External children live their childhood in the poorest areas of the city together with their family, in very precarious and disadvantaged conditions, experiencing misery and violence.

During the day, however, with the authorization of their parents, they are welcomed by “Saint Michael the Archangel” which, based on the different ages, includes them in the socio-educational programs organized by the Opera.

They are reached in the morning at their homes, thanks to the specially equipped transport service made available by the mission, then taken home in the evening.

The permanence of these children in the mission is quite unstable and subject to sudden changes due, most of the time, to the parents’ transfer to other locations in the country. However, the permanence becomes definitive if the family becomes fugitive and there is no other relative who can take care of the child.