The Fundamental Right to the Care of Children and Adolescents Without Parental Care

Abstract

The lack of parental care represents one of the most complex challenges facing contemporary systems for guaranteeing the rights of children and adolescents, as it requires legal responses capable of ensuring their protection. Although legal scholarship and constitutional jurisprudence have developed categories such as comprehensive protection, the best interests of the child, and the right to live in a family environment, few studies have examined the right to care in situations of parental care deprivation. This article aims to determine the constitutional scope of the fundamental right to care and to analyze its implications for the child protection system. The study adopted a qualitative approach and employed a doctrinal-jurisprudential methodology based on the systematic analysis of decisions issued by the Colombian Constitutional Court between 2020 and 2025. The findings show that constitutional jurisprudence has evolved from understanding care as a duty derived from parental responsibility to recognizing it as a fundamental right enforceable against the State, the family, and society. The study concludes that the fundamental right to care has become the constitutional category guiding the interpretation of child protection measures by guaranteeing the material, emotional, and relational conditions essential for children's and adolescents' holistic development and the progressive exercise of their autonomy.