2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE EIGHT - Public Welfare and Charitable Institutions (§§ 1 — 1422) › Chapter 42 - Child Safety, Well-being, and Protection Act (§§ 1101 — 1206) › Subchapter II - Guarantee of Rights and Prevention (§§ 1111 — 1127) › § 1112 - Duties of the family

The family shall have the duty to encourage equal rights, affection, solidarity, and mutual respect among all its members. Any type of violence within the family shall be considered destructive to its harmony and unity, and shall be sanctioned. The duties of the family to guarantee the rights of minors shall be:
(1) Protect them against any act that threatens or places their lives, dignity, and personal integrity at risk.
(2) Participate in democratic forums to discuss, design, formulate, and execute policies, plans, programs, and projects of interest for children, youths, and families.
(3) Develop, guide, and stimulate them to exercise their rights and responsibilities, and to develop their independence.
(4) Register them after their birth in the Demographic Registry of the Department of Health.
(5) Provide the conditions needed for their adequate health and nutrition, so as to achieve their optimum physical, psychomotor, mental, intellectual, emotional, and affective development, as well as education in preventive health and hygiene.
(6) Include them in the social security and health care systems from birth and take them for periodic health checkups, vaccination, and other health services in a timely manner.
(7) Ensure their access to education from birth and provide the conditions and means for their appropriate development, thus guaranteeing their continuance and permanence in school.
(8) Abstain from any act or behavior that may constitute physical, sexual, or psychological abuse, and attend counseling and treatment centers whenever necessary.
(9) Abstain from exposing children to situations of financial exploitation.
(10) Freely and responsibly decide how many children it can support and raise.
(11) Respect the child’s cultural manifestations and inclinations, and encourage their artistic expression and scientific and technological abilities.
(12) Provide the necessary conditions for their recreation and participation in sports and cultural activities of interest to them.
(13) Warn them and keep them informed of the harmful effects of using legal and illegal controlled substances.
(14) Treat children with disabilities with dignity and in the same way as any other member of the family, and provide them with opportunities for equality and self-sufficiency, so they can exercise their rights. Furthermore, provide them with adequate spaces for them and guarantee their participation in family and social affairs.
(15) Raise them in an atmosphere of affection and moral and material security.
(16) Educate them in an atmosphere of love, understanding, and tolerance, and protect them from practices that may foster discrimination of any kind.
(17) Educate them so they may develop their own attitudes and judgment, as well as a sense of moral and social responsibility, so they can become useful members of society.
(18) Any other action in the discharge of their responsibility towards their children.
History —Dec. 16, 2011, No. 246, § 5, eff. 90 days after Dec. 16, 2011.