The government will ask the prefects and the departmental councils to carry out an audit and to reinforce the controls in the establishments welcoming children in care, in particular to check whether they have the necessary authorizations, indicated on Friday the Secretary of State responsible for the childhood, Charlotte Caubel.
“
I asked for a flash investigation to check the situation of the establishments and to verify that they are well authorized
,” said Charlotte Caubel on Sud Radio.
“
We are going to strengthen the controls (and) the supervision
” of these structures, she added.
The decision to launch this "
audit
" follows the recent closure of a home in Eure-et-Loir, managed by a private company on behalf of Childhood Social Assistance (ASE), and where serious shortcomings were noted during an inspection at the end of November.
This establishment, a “
small unit
”, did not have authorization to accommodate these minors, underlined Charlotte Caubel.
Read also“Abusive” placements of children: “Parents always have the impression that they are not the worst in the world”
The control had revealed the presence of "
minors placed by other departments within this structure
", according to the departmental council and the prefecture, who denounced "
exploitation of the vulnerability of children
" and reported the facts to the public prosecutor's office of Chartres.
Recent increase in the number of children placed
"
I was very surprised to see a company arrive in this case
", commented Charlotte Caubel on Sud Radio.
(Until now), "
we did not have the for-profit sector on these subjects, I will be very vigilant because it is out of the question that the protection of our most vulnerable children now becomes a business
", has she added.
According to Charlotte Caubel, the accommodation conditions of young people in this home in Eure-et-Loir are the subject of a criminal investigation.
Asked by AFP, the Chartres prosecutor's office did not respond.
This case comes against a backdrop of "
sharp increase in the number of placements requested from the departments to protect children in danger
", had previously noted the Secretary of State, who asked for a reinforcement of the control teams in the prefectures.
France has "
more than a thousand
" homes for placed minors: they are often managed by "
associations which do their job very well in general, but a certain number of establishments do not fall within the regulatory frameworks and there you have to go and see what is going on there
, ”added Charlotte Caubel.
