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The PANI (Patronato Nacional de la Infancia) is a National organization of the Costa Rican government which is in charge of child welfare throughout the country. Founded in August of 1930 by Professor Luis Felipe González Flores, the organization is committed to protecting the rights of all persons under the age of 18, whether or not that person is considered at risk.

While the idea of Child Protective Services usually draws out images of orphaned and abused children, the PANI tries to serve all the children and adolescents residing in Costa Rica (though certainly a great deal of these efforts go toward orphaned and abused children). They strive to accomplish this goal by working together with mothers and fathers, attempting to teach them techniques for raising children without physical or emotional abuse, as well as supported them as much as possible in the difficult task of raising children. Furthermore, they found, sponsor, and operate temporary group homes for orphaned and abused children throughout the country.

PANI offices, which can be found in the different provinces of the country (there are currently 13 in the San José area) offer orientation information to families, educational campaigns, community projects and information about the rights of children, as established by Costa Rica law.

The institution is made up social workers, psychologists, childcare takers, politicians, human resource agents, cooks, gardeners, educators, and others who work together to provide for the country’s minors and protect the rights mandated to them by Costa Rican law, which include, but are not limited to the following:

• The right to an education (even in cases of physical or mental disabilities)
• The right to receive medical attention
• The right to have a family
• The right to enjoy a happy childhood and adolescence, to love and to be loved
• The right to make mistakes in order to learn and grow
• The right to a name and a nationality
• The right to receive protection against discrimination (age, sex, color, religion, or culture)
• The right to not work if said work may interrupt with health, development or education
• The right to receive protection against all forms of exploitation and/or abuse
• The right to express their opinion, and have their opinions respected

In order to protect these rights the institution works on three organizational levels: 1. the political level is in charge of strategizing, decision-making, and maintaining control and follow-through to institutional changes; 2. The technical-operative level is responsible for processing, implementing, and controlling organization plans, programs, and projects; and 3. The technical-abstract level is that which works more directly with the population in order to prevent abuse and provide necessary attention.

In cooperation with other organizations such as hospitals, and educational institutions PANI fights to promote and guarantee an integral development for all persons under 18 who reside in Costa Rica and their families.