Cantabria approves action protocols for child protection centers

The Cantabrian Institute of Social Services (ICASS) has approved the action protocols that will govern homes, residences, supervised housing, and day centers within the Childhood and Adolescence Protection System of Cantabria. The resolution, signed by the director of the organization, Carmen Arce de la Torre, on September 1, 2026, is published in the Official Gazette of Cantabria no. 184, dated September 24, 2026, with the reference CVE-2026-7297. The new rules come into effect the day after their publication, September 25.

The Statute of Autonomy of Cantabria grants the community exclusive competence in the protection and guardianship of minors (Article 24.23). When severe lack of protection occurs and the Public Entity assumes guardianship, care is provided through foster care or residential care; the latter is primarily carried out in small-scale ordinary housing, although also in first-reception centers, residences for adolescents with specialized needs, supervised housing for those over 16 years old, and day centers.

The centers are regulated by Order EPS/36/2022, of December 22, which requires in its Article 67 the establishment of protocols to structure actions in specific situations, and whose sixth additional provision entrusts the Direction of ICASS with approving the applicable technical instruments. The documents were developed within the framework of the service contract signed between the Government of Cantabria and the Cruz de los Ángeles Foundation, included in component 22 of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and funded by the European Union - Next Generation EU.

Thirteen protocols for homes, residences, and supervised housing

Annex I of the resolution contains the protocols applicable to residential care resources:

• Reception and initial evaluation.
• Leaving the center.
• Management, maintenance, and access to documentation.
• Complaints and claims.
• Accidents and/or serious illnesses.
• Action in case of runaways and/or disappearances.
• Suspected drug use and drug consumption.
• Prevention, early detection, and intervention against possible situations of violence.
• Searches of children, adolescents, or youth and/or their belongings.
• Suicide prevention.
• Aggression toward staff.
• Reports of crimes committed by minors and youth.
• Application of physical restraint measures.

Added to these is a specific protocol for the application of isolation measures.

Eight protocols for day centers

Annex II regulates the child and adolescent day centers (CDIA), with eight protocols: reception and initial evaluation; attendance and schedule; management, maintenance, and access to documentation; complaints and claims; first aid; suspicion of drug use and drug consumption; prevention, early detection, and intervention against possible situations of violence; and aggression toward staff.

Limits on restraint, isolation, and surveillance

The protocols establish strict guarantees for the most invasive measures. Isolation shall have a maximum duration of three consecutive hours, shall preferably be carried out in the minor’s room and never as a disciplinary punishment, with permanent accompaniment or supervision by an educator. Physical immobilization is reserved for situations of grave and imminent danger, requires a medical examination within a maximum period of 48 hours, and immediate notification to the Sub-directorate of Childhood, Adolescence, and Family and the Public Prosecutor’s Office; the restraint of wrists with approved equipment is only permissible in homes and residences under judicial measures and cannot exceed one hour.

The detection of child and adolescent sexual exploitation will be supported by the EDR-ESIA scale, which will be applied three months after admission to residential centers and two months in day centers, with an annual review. Suspicions will be referred to the Childhood, Adolescence, and Family Service (SIAF) and the Barnahus Unit, and all actions will be recorded in the SERAR system.

Entry into force and exception for the Barnahus Unit

The resolution takes effect from the day following its publication in the Official Gazette of Cantabria. All actions referring to the Barnahus Unit are excepted and will not be enforceable until the date of its commencement of operations.

The regulation homogenizes the actions of public and contracted management centers that attend to tutored minors and reinforces guarantees regarding restraint measures, while requiring managing entities to document every incident. Its application directly affects protected children and adolescents, their families, and the professionals and entities that manage these resources in Cantabria.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, no. 184, of September 24, 2026, page 46721 (official reference: CVE-2026-7297).