On January 11, a joint committee bringing together deputies and senators adopted the bill relating to the protection of children in care. It aims in particular to improve the care of minors entrusted to Social Assistance for Children (ASE) and prohibits the placements of children placed in hotels.
[Mise à jour du 12 janvier 2022]. After adoption at 1st reading in the National Assembly in July and then in the Senate last December, deputies and senators, meeting in a mixed joint committee (CMP) on January 11, adopted a common text on the daily life and safety of children protected by Social Assistance to Childhood (ASE). “This text will allow children protected by Social Assistance to Children to prepare for their future, to calmly consider their autonomy and to fight against inequalities of destiny. It is the end of an era of uncertainties and insecurities for these children and for the adults they become.“, welcomed the Secretary of State for Children Adrien Taquet in a press release. Among the main measures: the total ban on accommodating minors in hotels, within two years. Young people will also be able to benefit from a right to return until the age of 21, in the structures of social assistance to children. Each child of the ASE will also be systematically offered to be accompanied by a sponsor, a mentor, or both.
Care for children in care: what does the bill provide?
Improve the daily life of children in care
- Accommodation for children placed in the hotel is prohibited. The government definitively prohibits reception of minors in hotels for more security. This type of reception had been denounced several times, especially after the assassination of Jesse, a young man of 17 entrusted to the ASE, and killed in a hotel in Suresnes in 2019. Thus, during a transitional period of two years , no child may be accommodated for more than 2 months in a hotel structure, and must be in conditions of reinforced physical and educational security;
- The inclusion in the law of prohibition of separation of siblings if it is in the best interests of the child
- No more child of the ASE will be left without a solution at the age of majority. The departments and the State will systematically support young people up to the age of 21 compared to 18 years previously.
- The child’s words will be taken into account more. Systematically heard one-to-one by a children’s judge, the child can more regularly be represented or defended by ad hoc administrators or lawyers.
- Each child of the ASE can systematically be accompanied by a sponsor, a mentor, or both, depending on their background and expectations
- Before placement at the ASE, the possibility of entrusting the child to a person from his environment (family or close friends) will be studied.
- Promotion of the profession of family assistants, in particular by determining a minimum remuneration for the care of a child
- The bill also plans to reform and revitalize the national governance of child protection.
Ensure the safety of children in care
The bill also provides strict controls to “ensure that no one who has been convicted of sexual offenses can work in contact with children”. The fight against mistreatment is also an essential point of this new strategy. An external referent will then be created and can be entered directly by the children. Finally, professionals in contact with children will be better trained in identifying and reporting worrying situations such as acts of violence.
For more than a year, many measures have already been put in place to protect young people from Social Assistance to Children (ASE) with in particular the automation of higher education grants, access to student accommodation, personalized support from 17 years old with the youth guarantee for enhanced professional support and financial assistance of 500 euros per month. These measures thus aim to fight against the dry exits of children in care once they come of age.