the State called to act quickly for social workers

The approximately 200 signatories are calling for a “change in working conditions” in order to “relieve professionals affected by their physical and emotional commitment”.

The State must act quickly and “strong” in favor of child protection social workers, via an increase in salaries, write in a column published Tuesday March 19, activists, elected officials and professionals in this sector who are out of breath.

Associations and professionals in Child Welfare (ASE) regularly sound the alarm, pointing out a lack of resources and staff, and believing that they are no longer able to provide care or monitoring of minors in danger.

“We need a strong and rapid commitment from the State to social workers, to ensure that the basic needs of children are taken into account,” can we read in the column published in The world Tuesday, World Social Work Day.

“A necessary increase in salaries”

Among the signatories are the head of department at the Necker-Enfants Malades hospital Céline Greco and the MoDem deputy Perrine Goulet, former placed children, the PS senator Laurence Rossignol and the children’s rights activist Lyes Louffok, who also passed through the ‘ASE.

“The evolution of working conditions must be a priority, to relieve professionals tested by their physical and emotional commitment. This requires a necessary increase in salaries, which are extremely degraded by inflation”underline the approximately 200 signatories.

“How today can we hope to attract new profiles with salaries that barely exceed the minimum wage at the start of their career by just 100 euros?”

The signatories of the platform

in the world”

Some 377,000 children entrusted to the ASE

Due to a lack of available professionals, many establishments and services welcoming children are “forced to reduce their support capacities, 5% have even recently had to resign themselves to total service closures”, can still be read. “Children in care are then forced to be accommodated with families or in other services, even though these movements do not correspond to their basic needs.”

“Under these conditions, how can we offer protected children the support they desperately need? Leaving the profession of child protection social worker abandoned today is a mistake”believe the signatories.

Currently, some 377,000 children are subject to a protection measure under the ASE.