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General Objective
To implement the PLAY TO HEAL model of the FAN Foundation (Child Care Foundation) in the Urabá region, spanning 11 municipalities in the department of Antioquia, to provide specialized psychological care to children and adolescents and their families and/or networks who have suffered violence and/or experienced a situation in which their rights have been violated. This includes individual care and family support from a rights-based approach that articulates cognitive, affective, ethical, recreational, and participatory dimensions. It is also complemented by a process of promoting mental and emotional health, as well as preventing violence against children and adolescents.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
PLAY TO HEAL is a specialized psychotherapeutic model designed by the FAN Foundation, with more than 15 years of experience in providing mental and emotional health care and restoring rights for children and adolescents who are victims of various types of violence. The proposal calls for the construction and implementation of a Psychotherapeutic Center in Apartadó, Antioquia (Urabá subregion), with six rooms designed and intended for healing through play, equipped with recreational, sensory, and experiential tools that stimulate the languages of art, play, and the creation of safe spaces and bonds.
The model's main objective is to strengthen individual and family protective factors, redefining painful experiences and developing coping skills, resilience, and building a life plan. It includes individual attention and family support from a rights-based approach that articulates cognitive, affective, ethical, recreational, and participatory dimensions. It is also complemented by a process of promoting mental and emotional health, as well as preventing violence against children and adolescents.
Psychotherapeutic care is developed in phases that include diagnosis, individual intervention, and family support, with impact measurement using standardized mixed-methodology toolsâ₀"both quantitative and qualitative.
Having a PLAY TO HEAL program in Urabá promotes emotional healing in highly violent areas with little attention to its effects, redefining the meaning of harm, strengthening protective environments and safe bonds, and building life plans for children and adolescents.
NEEDS:
Urabá is a region characterized by a predominantly young population: 25.3% of its inhabitants are under 18 years of age, totaling 137,400. This implies a high concentration of children and adolescents, and therefore a greater need for services aimed at protection, psychosocial development, and comprehensive child care.
The adolescent fertility rate is 18.9%, with births to women under 19 years of age, reflecting gaps in access to sexual and reproductive health care, low educational attainment, and conditions of impoverishment.
According to Forensic Medicine and SIVIGILA (National Public Health Surveillance System), 1,491 cases of domestic violence were reported in the Urabá subregion. The majority of cases affect women and minors. The most frequently reported types of violence are physical, psychological, neglect, abandonment, and sexual violence within the family context.
FORENSIC, the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, reported an estimated 485 cases of sexual violence in the subregion, helping to reduce gaps in access to specialized psychosocial care.
Through a process of inquiry and interviews with the community in communities such as Carepa and Chigorodó, three very important findings were identified. First, there is real demand and perceived value: people want to continue and report positive changes in their daily lives. Second, structural barriers persist: transportation, workloads, and weak institutional coordination that, if left unaddressed, erode continuity. Third, there is an established asset in the territory: community leaders capable of multiplying emotional care practices if supported and strengthened.
It is a region marked by armed conflict, drug trafficking, forced displacement, and a migration crisis. These factors have deteriorated the social fabric and created unsafe environments for children and adolescents. This has resulted in the violation of the rights of children and adolescents, directly impacting the full enjoyment of their mental and emotional health. Despite a high prevalence of these violations, the availability of care is limited, revealing a critical gap in access to mental and emotional health. Furthermore, the administrative processes for restoring rights at the ICBF (Colombian Institute of Family Welfare) are considerably low, reflecting a shortage in restoring rights and preventing further violations.
ADDRESSING NEEDS:
These needs are addressed through the construction, opening, and operation of a specialized psychotherapy center, with six rooms designed and equipped for individual and family psychotherapy care, under a model based on art, play, and the creation of safe spaces and bonds.
BENEFICIARIES OF THIS PROJECT:
The projected care for 768 children and adolescents through the Play to Heal model in Urabá, Antioquia, represents an urgent and strategic response to the magnitude of the emotional and psychological impacts faced by this population. This intervention would cover 51.5% of the 1,491 reported cases of domestic violence and would exceed by more than 170% the 485 estimated cases of sexual violence reported by FORENSIS in the subregion, helping to reduce the gaps in access to specialized psychosocial care.
NUMBER OF BENEFICIARIES:
768 children and adolescents, which is our potential care capacity at the center with 6 rooms. Number of families: Approximately 615, which represents a life-changing outcome for 1,843 people.
SUSTAINABILITY:
The project includes a sustainability strategy based on the training of local professionals using the Play to Heal methodology developed by FAN to strengthen local human talent in psychotherapeutic care for vulnerable populations, promoting territorial and community ownership of the model. It will also be coordinated with partner institutions that already have a history of working with the FAN Foundation, such as the ICBF (Colombian Institute of Family Welfare) and COMFAMA (Family Compensation Fund of Antioquia), as well as education secretariats. These institutions receive cases of rights violations and are responsible for the care of children and adolescents (NACs) and the allocation of resources. These entities recognize the urgent need for mental and emotional health care, but lack the necessary infrastructure to cover it. This enables direct referral of cases for care and the construction of inter-institutional pathways for the protection and restoration of rights. Inter-institutional care pathways will be established through referrals of cases for care and the integration of the PLAY TO HEAL center into local pathways for mental health protection and rights restoration.
Positioning the center as a safe place to provide tools for building relationships, redefining the harm caused by violence, improving the mental and emotional health of the affected community, and restoring the social fabric will strengthen community ownership to continue making it viable with more financial partners.
IS THE COMMUNITY INVOLVED? DESCRIBE THE LOCAL COMMUNITY'S ROLE IN PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTINUITY.
The local community will have an active role, as the program's socialization during implementation requires community organizational processes to be aware of and support it through dissemination and outreach. Those who are already familiar with FAN Foundation's experience in mental and emotional health care thanks to a previous project in conjunction with the Antioquia Governor's Office, and who were instrumental in identifying these needs and the urgency of this intervention, belong to leadership networks that will be key to positioning the PLAY TO HEAL center. Furthermore, training the local human talent, who will be responsible for providing care, will ensure the model's long-term sustainability.
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