The Pastoral da Criança (Child's Pastoral) aim to enhance the full development of children younger than six years old. However, care to the families and communities cannot be ignored either. Dr. Zilda Arns Neumann says that: “If the families are well, the child is well. If the community is organized and the Pastoral da Criança is well developed, the authorities will respect it much more.”
The Pastoral da Criança has some Complementary Actions which also help to reduce child mortality and to promote improvements in the family and communities to which the child belongs. These are the following:
• Literacy Program- to mothers and the children followed - Youth and Adults Education (EJA).
• Toys and Games - to increase the interest in playing and joining leisure activities in the communities. The families receive support and stimuli to create a favourable environment to the development and education of their children.
• Social Control of the Public Policies -Qualified volunteers report the Municipal, State and National Boards of Health, Board of the Children and Adolescents Rights, Board of Nutrition Safety, among others.
Optional Actions
• Network of Communication Volunteers
• Youth and Adults Education Program - for other followed people within the community apart from the mother.
• Hansenosis - the Pastoral da Criança participates in an organized and systematic way of the National Program of Control and Eliminations of Hansenosis in the municipalities where it is endemic.
• Tuberculosis Control