1. What is the State's Children Law
Law 2479 of 2025, known as the "State's Children Law", was approved by the Colombian Congress on July 15, 2025 and creates the National Comprehensive Support Program for graduates of the ICBF protection system. This law aims to guarantee comprehensive support, social inclusion and real opportunities for young people leaving the ICBF who lack family or community support networks. It was driven by ASCEP since 2019, initially championed by congressman Jhon Arley Murillo and taken up in 2023 by Senator Lorena Rios.
Main objectives
- Strengthen state services for young graduates
- Establish support networks with social and community organizations
- Facilitate social inclusion and access to job and educational opportunities
- Develop social, emotional, educational and job skills
- Provide economic support during the transition
2. What changes with this law
Law 2479 of 2025 - A step toward autonomy for youth in protection
2479
What changes with this law
The law creates the National Comprehensive Support Program, providing health, education, subsidies and psychosocial support. It includes Comprehensive Support Units to strengthen skills and economic support equivalent to 80% of the minimum wage for six months after leaving the system. It also promotes autonomy and comprehensive well-being through employment programs, business training and preferential credit lines.
3. Who it is for
Who it is for
Young people between 18 and 28 who lived under ICBF protection measures
Youth about to graduate without family networks or support
People with disabilities under ICBF protection who need permanent support
Teams responsible for care and preparation for autonomous life of adolescents under protection.
Entities interested in youth employability, education, mental health, housing, entrepreneurship, spirituality, culture and support networks.
4. What the Law establishes
What the Law establishes
Comprehensive support for graduates
Creation of Support Units with interdisciplinary teams. Personalized support in life project, health, employment and autonomy.
Economic support
Monthly subsidy for 6 months after graduation, through the DPS.
Priority access
Basic, secondary and higher education (ICETEX, SENA). Formal employment and entrepreneurship with incentives. Loans and subsidies with preferential rates.
Strengthening support networks
Participation of CSOs, private sector, religious organizations and volunteers.
Active participation of graduates
Commitment signing and possibility of monitoring the program.
5. About implementation
Law 2479 of 2025 assigns the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) a central and operational role in implementing its objectives. The ICBF, as head of the National Family Welfare System, has several key responsibilities:
6. Territorial scope of the Law
Law 2479 of 2025 has national reach: it applies in all 32 departments of Colombia and regulates the National Comprehensive Support Program under ICBF coordination. From its headquarters in Cali, Valle del Cauca, ASCEP works with graduate networks, social organizations and institutions across the country so the law reaches every young person leaving the protection system.
A national protection framework
- Applies across Colombia's 32 departments
- ICBF coordinates the National Comprehensive Support Program
- From Cali, ASCEP connects graduate networks nationwide
- Prioritizes adolescents and young people in care or already aged out
7. The role of graduates
Graduates of the protection system should not only be beneficiaries of Law 2479, but active subjects, co-responsible and protagonists of its implementation, monitoring and improvement. The law exists because organized graduates raised their voices; therefore, their natural role is to guard its meaning, monitor compliance and bring it to life in the territories.
The role of graduates
- Protagonists and not passive recipients
- Oversight and guarantors of implementation
- Community builders and support networks
- Social leaders and agents of change
- Generators of knowledge and evidence
The role of ASCEP
- Promoter and guardian of the spirit of the law
- Legitimate voice of graduates
- Social and political oversight of implementation
- Articulator of networks and allies
8. The legislative process y How to participate
The bill was driven by graduates themselves through ASCEP, backed by Senator Lorena Rios and with reports by Alexandra Vasquez and Jairo Cristo. It was approved in the Congress of the Republic and signed by President Gustavo Petro.
Effective implementation requires commitment from everyone: government, civil society, private sector and media. You can raise awareness in your community, volunteer as a mentor, establish partnerships with ASCEP and ICBF, and advocate for public policies that guarantee the well-being of young graduates.
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A visual journey through the implementation of Law 2479: voices, territories and key moments of the Egress Law.
Inform, Raise Awareness and Mobilize Society
This publication turns the written law into real actions and transforms the reality of thousands of young people leaving the ICBF protection system.
Download the Law 2479 Communication Kit
Complete institutional kit with the official presentation, social media assets, press releases and the socialization toolkit for the Egress Law.
Official presentation · Social campaign · Key messages · Law text
