To be able to go on vacation with his host family, to have access to cultural outings ... or an educator who allows himself feelings of “
attachment
”: in a report submitted to the government on Saturday, more than a thousand children in care suggest ways to improve their daily lives.
Most of the minors entrusted to Social Assistance for Children (ASE) "
ask to be involved in decisions that affect them,
" says the author of this report, Gautier Arnaud-Melchiorre, a 26-year-old student himself. former placed child, regretting that "
their opinion (is) little taken into account
".
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On the occasion of the International Day of the Rights of the Child, the report must be submitted on Saturday to the Secretary of State for Children, Adrien Taquet, in the presence of 240 children from the ASE.
It is accompanied by a “
charter of rights for protected children
”, the first point of which proclaims: “
I have the right to be a child or an adolescent like any other
”.
"
Reception centers must adapt to children
", not the other way around
Depending on the places of reception - and the departments, which finance them - the situations are very disparate, underlines the rapporteur. The "
commitment
" of many professionals is real, but too many minors suffer from "
major dysfunctions
": sexual assault on the part of other minors, traumatic breaks in their career, prostitution. After a tour of France of homes and host families and meetings with hundreds of children and adolescents who sometimes "
showed him their room
" or their "
blanket
", Gautier Arnaud-Melchiorre deduced that "
these are the reception places that must adapt to children
”and not the other way around.
The author thus proposes improvements which appear "
innocuous
", but "
fundamental
".
To avoid a recurring feeling of "
stigmatization
" or even "
shame
", children in care should have more pocket money to buy clothes to their liking or go to the hairdresser, and should no longer be brought to school in vans bearing the colors of their social home.
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Several children said they felt rejected by their foster families, who refused to take them on vacation, confine them to their rooms at night, humiliate them or give them an exaggerated amount of household chores. "
I have the impression of being a package
", testifies a young person. Others are sad that their educator does not feel entitled to "
attach
" to them.
Presented on the occasion of the International Day of the Rights of the Child, the report further recommends improving the training of professionals so that they know better how to talk about sexuality with adolescents, and allow them to live their lives. sexual other than in "
squats
".
The law "
must organize the end
" of "
dry outings
" of the ASE, which see young people abandoned overnight by the institution when they become adults, also supports the rapporteur.