New regulation sets standards for accrediting collaborators of the Children's Service

The Ministry of Social Development and Family published Supreme Decree No. 5 of 2026, which approves the regulation establishing the standards for the accreditation of collaborators and for the programs of the lines of action of the National Service for Specialized Protection of Children and Adolescents, and repeals Supreme Decree No. 5 of 2021 from the same ministry. The regulation appears in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile No. 44,558, dated Friday, September 25, 2026, Section I, pages 1 to 13 (CVE 2874586), and was signed on February 16, 2026.

The text was signed by the President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric Font, along with the Minister of Social Development and Family, Javiera Toro Cáceres; the Acting Minister of Finance, Javiera Martínez Fariña; and the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Jaime Gajardo Falcón. The communication to the Undersecretary for Children, Marcelo Sánchez Ahumada, closes the decree.

The regulation is issued in compliance with Article 3 ter of Law No. 20,530 and is articulated with Law No. 21,302, which creates the Service; Law No. 20,032, regarding State financial contributions to accredited collaborators; Law No. 21,430, on children’s guarantees; Law No. 21,496, on the re-evaluation of collaborators; and Law No. 21,760, on adoption.

What institutions must accredit

Accreditation standards will apply to non-profit legal entities, public institutions, and natural persons. For the former, the regulation requires:

• Having at least 24 months of validity since their constitution and being eligible to receive public funds.
• Providing financial statements for the last 24 months, including balance sheets or income and expenditure tables, cash flow statements, and an annual report, if applicable.
• Having a bank account for each project they execute.
• Having an interdisciplinary team with a minimum of three years of verifiable experience in management or administrative and technical coordination positions in specialized protection.
• Applying standardized recruitment and selection processes, with mechanisms to detect disqualifications, especially those in Article 56 of Law No. 21,302.
• Having an occupational wellness policy and a prevention model against crimes against the life, health, integrity, liberty, and sexual indemnity of children and adolescents, and against the misuse of public resources.
• Maintaining active transparency mechanisms regarding institutional structure, use of resources, technical results, and reporting channels.

Those seeking accreditation in the adoption line of action must accredit three years of experience in the execution of any line of action of the Service, pursuant to Article 6 of Law No. 21,760.

Natural persons and program standards

For natural persons who develop the specialized clinical diagnosis and case follow-up and expert witness line, work experience of at least three years in psychosocial diagnoses or child and family expert reports is required, as well as specialized training of at least 150 hours in childhood, family, and diagnostic or expert evaluation methodology. Additionally, they must have a wellness and occupational care practice plan, with semi-annual occupational health evaluations.

The program standards are organized into six dimensions:

• Human rights.
• Internal organization.
• Labor development of the teams.
• Information management.
• Evaluation and intervention component.
• Adequate environments for children and adolescents.

These dimensions will be applied regardless of whether the programs are executed by the Service itself or accredited collaborators, and will govern the design of the programmatic offer, the terms of the calls for proposals, and the obligations of the agreements.

Deadlines and Entry into Force

The regulation will enter into force jointly with the new regulation referred to in article 6 bis of Law No. 20.032, once the latter is published. The standard compliance matrices must be issued within two months of publication, and the associated technical regulations within six months. Accredited collaborators in the adoption line will have six months to adapt to the new standards, and current accreditations will remain in effect until their respective re-evaluation.

The change directly affects the organizations that execute programs with children and adolescents, which must reorganize their teams, their registration systems, and their internal control mechanisms to maintain accreditation and, with it, access to State financial contributions.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44.558, Friday, September 25, 2026, Section I, pp. 1-13 (official reference: CVE 2874586).