Introduction

The 6th National Action Plan for the Protection of Rights and Development of Subjects in Developmental Age 2025-2027 was approved on July 29, 2025, by presidential decree. The Plan, published biennially, represents the main programmatic and policy document for interventions in favor of children and adolescents at the Italian national level. It is the result of collaboration with the National Observatory for Childhood and Adolescence, established under Law 451 of December 23, 1997, and most recently regulated by Presidential Decree 103 of May 14, 2007.

The 5th National Action Plan (2022-2023), focused on education, equity, and empowerment, was adopted by presidential decree on January 25, 2022.

The Plan falls within the broader framework of soft law acts and represents an essential element of national governance of policies for the promotion and protection of children's rights.

The Plan mentions international, regional, and national instruments aimed at protecting children, particularly the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; the protocol on the sale, prostitution, and pornography of minors; the protocol on the involvement of minors in armed conflicts; the protocol on complaint procedures; the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 15, 2015; the Council of the European Union Recommendation 2021/1004 of June 14, 2021, establishing a European Child Guarantee; the European Union Strategy on the Rights of the Child for 2021-2024, adopted on March 24, 2021 by the European Commission; the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child 2022-2027, adopted on February 23, 2022; the National Plan for the Prevention and Combating of Child Abuse and Sexual Exploitation; the National Family Plan; the National Action Plan for the Child Guarantee; the National Action Plan on Addictions; and the National Plan for Social Interventions and Services.

The Plan, referencing the above documents, offers a holistic and innovative approach. Following a structural vision of policies, it promotes collaboration between administrations, entities, the Third Sector, and local realities engaged in children's and adolescents' rights, adhering to a principle of concreteness regarding the 16 proposed actions.

The Sixth National Plan presents parenting (actions 1-7), education (actions 8-12), health (actions 13-16), data collection, and integration between plans as main areas of intervention.
The 3 key words of this Plan are practicability, sustainability, and evaluability. All policies in favor of children and adolescents must be feasible, considering the Plan's two-year duration; follow the principle of sustainability, whereby the implementation of actions must occur with currently available resources; and be effectively monitorable and evaluable over time, giving the Plan concreteness.

I - Parenting

Actions 1, 2 and 3 - Strengthening the role of Family Centers on services for the "first thousand days", promoting parental skills and adolescence
Regarding the reference context, the Plan presents the high degree of capillarity of services available in support of Family Centers. However, this capillarity does not always guarantee the effective use and exploitation of these services and opportunities. In fact, data shows that only the most informed and socio-economically structured segments of the population manage to take advantage of them. It is therefore necessary to address this situation by promoting outreach action for new parents through various contact channels.

Action 1 "Strengthening the informative and guidance role of Family Centers on services for the 'first thousand days'" has as specific objectives the strengthening of information and guidance services aimed at families within Family Centers with reference to the "first thousand days" of children's lives, to enhance parental skills, through the promotion of "accessible and simple information for future parents and new parents about the services offered; early identification of situations of distress and vulnerability, facilitated by conscious access to the network of social, educational and socio-health services; and guidance on work protections (with a focus on maternity, paternity, and parental leave)".

Some inequalities develop from the first months of life. To prevent their formation, preventive interventions and a universalistic system aimed at all families, including migrant ones, characterized by personalized activities calibrated according to needs, are necessary. To address these issues, effective coordination is needed, promoting processes of integration and intersectoral communication.

More concretely, the Plan provides, following a preliminary mapping of services and facilities present at the territorial level, for the activation of an information desk at Family Centers and the creation, on the institutional website of the Department for Family Policies, of an information dashboard on the offer of services provided by Family Centers dedicated to the "first thousand days". The plan also provides for the production of informational material in electronic and paper format, in multilingual and accessible versions, to be distributed to families through Family Centers and other locations, and the implementation of a national communication campaign to make Family Centers and their services known.

Communication is expected to occur through both physical and online channels, taking into account the multiculturality that characterizes Italian society, focusing on the specific needs of families, conveying a feeling of trust in the public service.

The first years of a child's life are fundamental for the development of their cognitive and psychomotor skills, with an important role played by the family context. In this regard, Action 2 "Promotion of parental skills" aims to strengthen interventions and spaces dedicated to parenting, with the objective of enhancing the personal resources of parental figures, increasing skills and capacities for autonomous and serene exercise in parenting.

These interventions, in addition to responding to specific needs and necessities, can also represent an opportunity for socialization for new parents, crucial for those who suffer from loneliness during this important life transition phase. The intent is to guarantee, in each Family Center, activities and spaces dedicated to future parents and new parents, available in a structural manner, easily accessible, open to all new families, carried out free of charge and with flexible hours to facilitate participation.

The action also aims to prepare a training model for Family Center operators for the "first thousand days" that also covers Shaken Baby Syndrome, parental leave, the service system, the phenomenon of sharenting (the constant online sharing by parents of content concerning their children) and its risks.

In addition, the action provides for the development and activation of services and activities to strengthen parental capacities and support self-management and organization of parental commitments, also in the form of self-help groups, taking into account good practices and consolidated experiences already in place.

The activated services should include the following activities: in-depth moments related to the "first thousand days"; laboratory activities and/or co-presence activities to support the parent-child relationship also through play and reading, which can also be easily replicated in the home environment; activation of thematic consultations and parental counseling, where necessary; family mediation interventions for parents in the process of separation and/or discussion groups for separated parents; family groups to activate a network and peer exchange; promote the protagonism of families so that they can be an active part of community life (e.g., organization of events or appointments co-organized with families, help and support groups).

As is well known, adolescents are going through a moment of crisis both from a psychological point of view and from that of educational poverty. The active role of territories is fundamental to address this crisis in a targeted and effective way. In this regard, Action 3 "Development of targeted actions aimed at adolescents and parents in Family Centers" proposes to respond to the needs of pre-adolescents, adolescents, and their families, through a series of integrated and coordinated activities to be developed at Family Centers. These activities aim to offer informative support directly to adolescents and their parents, including thematic meetings, also online, and community involvement actions.

The main purpose of these activities and initiatives is to offer useful information and raise awareness among parents on issues related to adolescence, helping them to better understand and manage the challenges of this phase of life and cope with the first symptoms of distress in their children from a perspective of prevention and promotion of well-being, also with reference to the delicate situation of adolescents with separated or divorced parents. In this regard, the action also provides for the activation of dedicated listening and counseling services. This is accompanied by a path of promotion, awareness-raising, and accompaniment specifically aimed at families of adolescents and pre-adolescents. The promotion of "Word Groups" is also planned, targeted interventions for adolescents (12-15 years old) with separated or divorced parents, which aim to help them express their experiences, process emotions related to separation, and find strategies to face family changes.

Actions 4, 5, 6, and 7 - Reception and fostering
Action 4 "Promotion of the culture of reception by enhancing horizontal subsidiarity and innovative experiences" intends to relaunch the culture of reception thanks to full collaboration and integration between public services and Third Sector realities, through the promotion of recognition and enhancement of experiences and places in civil society where relationships, exchanges, and possibilities are generated. This action aims to orient family fostering towards a dimension of support rather than sanction.

The dissemination of the culture of reception can occur through the promotion of "lighter" forms of fostering, such as daytime or part-time fostering, developing a culture of proximity reception that generates the creation of a support network to support a family in a vulnerable situation, or also through the promotion of "communities of practice" for family fostering, i.e., formal or informal groups that operate stably in the territory, favoring continuous and reciprocal learning through the exchange of knowledge and good practices.

The action intends to put the role of the foster family at the center so that, in a holistic perspective, contact with operators and access to local public services is facilitated.

Action 5 "Improvement and simplification of access to services and benefits for minors in foster care" proposes to develop a document that collects good practices implemented among administrations and various inter-institutional subjects and the Third Sector, to facilitate access to services at the local level.

It aims to recognize and enhance existing good practices, particularly regarding access to services for UASC (Unaccompanied Foreign Minors) and care leavers (adults in administrative continuation who have experienced out-of-family care paths) to simplify and improve welfare, fiscal, and study and work access-related benefits.

Action 6 "Enhancement of the preventive function of family fostering" intends to promote fostering as a temporary measure, enhancing its preventive function and the possibility of family reunification.

Emphasizing the preventive function of fostering allows considering this institution as a support tool, not a sanction, thus favoring family reunification and return to the family.

Action 6 can be realized through the promotion of "lighter forms of fostering" (daytime or part-time fostering) and the dissemination of a culture of reception. To this end, it is necessary to promote a uniform intervention methodology, both in the multidimensional assessment of parental needs and skills, and in planning practices.

Action 7 "Elaboration of a project on the impact of fostering policies" aims to reconstruct the different types of fostering paths and carry out a retrospective study, with a representative sample of subjects (children and young people in foster care and/or out of the fostering path, care leavers, families, reception communities, sector operators). This action is pursued in order to offer the involved administrations useful information to guide interventions on fostering policies.

II - Education

Actions 8, 10, and 11 - Enhancement of adolescent socialization, equal opportunities, and social isolation
Action 8 "Strengthening the educating community on the national territory for the enhancement of adolescent socialization" aims to strengthen existing awareness experiences in the territory, introducing an activity with the purpose of promoting, especially in the suburbs, the skills and protagonism of young people themselves, to counter loneliness and the risk of social withdrawal, isolation, and forms of marginalization.

The action aims to enhance virtuous experiences throughout the territory, through the promotion of school projects of "peer" education and the training of trainers. In this regard, alliances between schools, social territorial areas, municipalities, and Third Sector entities can represent key elements.

Action 10 "Promotion of the culture of equal opportunities among adolescents and pre-adolescents to counter male violence against women" is aimed at promoting the culture of equal opportunities, through the implementation of educational, training, and guidance paths for female and male students in the school curricula of secondary schools of I and II grade. The ultimate aim is to increase awareness of the importance of the principle of equality in relationships between boys and girls.

Action 11 "Activation of a monitoring system for the prevention and recovery of children and young people from social isolation" provides for the activation of a monitoring system for the prevention and recovery of children and young people from social isolation, thus bringing out the phenomenon in its various forms and manifestations. The action also intends to strengthen parents' awareness of the risks of online navigation.

Concretely, the action wants to carry out research aimed at understanding the phenomenon of social isolation among minors, also through the identification of risk indicators; the definition of a national project to intervene on the phenomenon; the promotion of the adoption of protocols at the local level between families, networks of educational and socio-health services, also in coordination with the social plans of the social territorial areas, which take into account the results of the research; the promotion of the use of the digital health balance (BSD) by pediatricians of free choice.

Action 9 - Promotion of digital education on emerging phenomena such as sexting, morphing, doxing, and sharenting
Sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit photographs and/or text messages, especially through mobile phones.

Morphing is a digital effect where a shape, object, or face transforms into another shape, object, or face, through a fluid and realistic transition that could give rise to, among other things, images of virtual child pornography.

Doxing is a practice carried out by a subject (so-called doxer) who makes public, through sharing on the internet, information concerning another person with the aim of humiliating, threatening, or intimidating them.

Sharenting is the phenomenon of constant online sharing by parents of content concerning their children (photos, videos, ultrasounds, stories), in most cases without their consent, because they are too young or not yet old enough to understand the implications, or because consent is not requested from them.

Action 9 "Promotion of digital education on emerging phenomena such as sexting, morphing, doxing, and sharenting" is aimed at promoting digital education, with particular attention to the phenomena described above. In particular, it proposes to carry out awareness-raising and information paths in the school environment aimed at young people and the school community and to promote information campaigns on new phenomena connected to the use and production of sexual material concerning minors, aimed at informing operators and professionals in the service network.

Action 12 - Realization of a focus on data related to bullying and cyberbullying
The action proposes to create a monitoring system on the phenomena of bullying and cyberbullying, through the in-depth analysis of the characteristics of available data and their systematic organization, so as to identify any information gaps.

III - Health

Actions 13 and 14 - Promotion of children and young people's well-being, prevention in mental health and addictions to psychotropic substances
Action 13 "Promotion of children and young people's well-being and prevention in mental health" promotes the well-being of children and young people, especially regarding the issue of mental health and early identification of mental distress among minors. The complexity of the topic requires an integrated approach that considers the different phases of intervention (prevention, taking charge, accompaniment, care) and the necessary collaboration between family, social, educational, and health spheres. It also highlights the danger of over-diagnosis, over-treatment, and early psychiatrization of children and adolescents who are going through a momentary existential discomfort, often linked to physiological phases of growth.

Specifically, the action provides for: the elaboration of a protocol scheme usable at the local level by actors dealing with minors' mental health, the promotion and adoption of protocols at the local level between families, networks of educational and social services and local health services; and the promotion of the inclusion of a section dedicated to the mental health of children and adolescents within the health balances carried out by pediatricians of free choice, in order to detect early signs of self-harm, suicidal ideation, and eating disorders.

Action 14 "Activation in Family Centers of services dedicated to the prevention of addictions to psychotropic substances concerning minors" aims to activate in Family Centers information and guidance services dedicated to the prevention of addictions to psychotropic substances in minors, emphasizing the fundamental role of education and awareness. It is essential to inform minors and families about the consequences of using such substances, whether occasional or frequent use.

Actions 15 and 16 - Violence committed, witnessed, and suffered by minors and pediatric health balances
Action 15 "Design of a data ecosystem on violence committed, witnessed, and suffered by minors" proposes the design and construction of a data ecosystem on the theme of violence suffered, witnessed, and committed by minors aimed, in particular, at estimating the so-called "gray zone" (that part of violence that is difficult to codify as it is not yet manifest, that indefinable ambiguity that already constitutes an alarm signal and that could lead to explicit violence) of the phenomenon. A technical-scientific activity of reconnaissance and systematization of available data sources is thus promoted, highlighting the main criticalities.

Action 16 "Construction of a monitoring system on child abuse through pediatric health assessments" proposes to develop a monitoring system on child abuse based on health assessments by independent pediatricians, with the involvement of competent institutions such as the Ministry of Health and the Regions, as well as professional orders and trade organizations and associations.
The study of data obtained from the analysis of pediatric health assessments will support the detection of anthropometric characteristics and signs of growth difficulties, which are indirect preventive sources of potential maltreatment and abuse.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Sixth National Plan of Action and Interventions for the Protection of Rights and Development of Subjects in Developmental Age 2025-2027 aims to comprehensively protect children's rights in Italy, recognizing the importance of an integrated and multidisciplinary approach to address challenges related to the well-being of minors, both newborns and adolescents. The Plan also emphasizes the importance of continuous monitoring and evaluation to ensure the effectiveness of proposed measures and to achieve a more inclusive society attentive to the needs of its young people.