It is a warning cry, accompanied by courses of action, launched by the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (EESC) in its latest opinion on the protection of children. The institution, consulted by the president of the Senate in March, examines in a hundred pages the serious crisis in the sector, which served 344,682 minors or young adults in 2022, according to the National Observatory for the Protection of Children, a figure increasing by 18% since 2011.
Dysfunctions are present at all levels, from the management of this decentralized public policy at the departmental level to insufficient support for the health of affected young people, with serious repercussions. With this ambivalence, underlined by one of the two speakers, the former juvenile judge Josiane Bigot: “We have never been so demanding in the way we treat children, including those entrusted to child protection, and, at the same time, we are completely helpless due to the great disorganization that reigns there. »
The EESC refers in particular to two examples from previous work. The first refers to the situation “very worrying”reported in May by the Magistrates’ Union, of the non-execution of legal measures, with a large number of abandoned children in danger in their families due to lack of space in an establishment or in a foster family. The EESC insists on this. “Juvenile judges, caught in situations of ethical conflict, anticipate this non-execution and renounce making decisions entrusted to the ASE.” [l’aide sociale à l’enfance] “children in danger in their families, due to lack of adequate places or structures for their reception.”underlines the opinion.
“Recruitment difficulties”
Another shocking figure stands out. Borrowed from a European study published in 2021 in the British medical journal the lancet, illustrates the havoc on the health of “cumulative traumatic events suffered during childhood” that abused children experience, including ASE youth. The latter have, on average, a life expectancy twenty years lower than that of the general population.
At the heart of the difficulties are also the discouragement of the teams that care for children and the crisis of attractiveness that the sector faces. “These are highly committed professionals who carry out this public policy from a distance, but they are exhausted”underlines Elisabeth Tomé-Gertheinrichs, co-rapporteur, recalling that “71% of establishments face hiring difficulties”. Measures relating to the improvement and training of social workers are proposed.
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