The automatic referral triggers a contradictory investigation, during which the children’s judges, the child welfare services and the departments on which they depend will be questioned.
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An alarming finding. The Defender of Rights Claire Hédon announced, Tuesday, November 15, to seize automatically the situation encountered by the services of the Childhood Social Assistance (ASE) in the North and the Somme. “Recently alerted by magistrates from the departments of Nord and Somme to the difficulties encountered by the services of social assistance for children in their mission to protect children, the Defender of Rights has decided to take action on her own initiative this situation”specifies this institution responsible for ensuring the respect and freedoms of everyone.
In its press release, the independent administrative authority quotes the “lack of places in homes and family assistants”, “unexecuted placements”delays sometimes exceeding six months for educational assistance measures in an open environment or even “Breaks in children’s pathways”.
Beyond the situation in these two departments, the Defender of Rights and her deputy in charge of children, Eric Delemar, “are alarmed once again by the dramatic state of child protection today, which is no longer, in many territories, duly ensured”. For Claire Hédon, “the institutional responses to these needs are not up to the challenge and undermine the fundamental rights of children”.
The automatic referral triggers a contradictory investigation, during which the children’s judges, the child welfare services and the departments on which they depend will be questioned. At the end of this investigation, the duration of which may vary, the Defender of Rights presents his recommendations to the departmental councils and to the Secretary of State for Children, who then have three months to respond.