Childhood social assistance: a state scandal

MP Isabelle Santiago, Who piloted the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into Childhood Social Aid (ASE), has no strong enough words. The situation of children taken care of by the public authorities between their birth and the age of 21 is “a state scandal”. The suicide of a 15 -year -old teenager in a hotel room a year ago was the trigger for the survey made public on April 8. Despite this drama, the report tells us that we continue to house young people isolated in hotels, for lack of space in more suitable structures. Not to mention foreign minors who arrived alone on French soil: often dismissed from their minority, they are left on the street. On the side of the nursery, the situation is no less catastrophic: more than eight out of ten establishments exceed the maximum limit of six cradles per room. Working in ASE is a humanitarian vocation, as the extent of the task coupled to a derisory salary makes the job unattractive.

The report is clear: The public authorities do not fulfill their mission to protect these children, whose initial precariousness calls for a repetition of care and means. Consequences of such a deficiency, “hospitalism” – this form of infantile depression linked to emotional lack – affects many babies, the life expectancy of children placed is twenty years lower than that of the rest of the population (ie around 60 years for men and 65 years for women*), and delinquency among this population explodes.

The measures announced By the Minister of Labor, Health, Solidarity and Families, Catherine Vautrin, with a view to reforming the entire reception system of these children, will they be sufficient? In addition to restoring the financial means necessary for the mission of social assistance to childhood, it is a question of putting a forgotten need to the center, however as vital as food and first aid: the benevolent relationship, essential for any age.

* The Lancet, 2021 (Health and Financial Costs of Adverse Childhood Experiences in 28 European Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis).