After the retirement homes with The Gravediggersit is the turn of private nurseries to be called into question by the journalist Victor Castanet in his new book “The Ogres” (Flammarion), which comes out on Wednesday, September 18.
Under pressure, the sector has in fact been facing for several years a critical shortage of professionals and dysfunctions attributed to a complex method of financing, the effects of which are considered “pervert”.
More and more nurseries are also finding themselves faced with problems of understaffing, with shortages estimated by the CNAF, the national family allowance fund, at 10,000 professionals.
We take stock of the dysfunctions raised by this investigative book.
What is Victor Castanet’s book about?
The book is released in bookstores this Wednesday, September 18. Its author, a 37-year-old independent journalist, reveals the flaws of a lucrative system that is allegedly to the detriment of the State and parents, diverting public money from its initial objective and proposing support low cost children.
For food, “We now have to order 5% fewer meals compared to the number of children registered”says an employee of a private nursery. Later in the book, a director does not hesitate to tell her teams: “You don’t change a child for a little pee.” Some employees are therefore forced to buy diapers with their own money in supermarkets.
In some daycare centers, employees reported to the author heating problems, faulty washing machines, ovens and sterilizers out of order. Some mattresses were reportedly damaged or torn.
Shocking testimonies
Victor Castanet also reports in The Ogres shocking testimonies. He collected Zohra’s at length. This mother recounts the ordeal of her children who were taken in by a People and Baby group nursery in the Lille region: traces of violence, scratches on the shoulder… According to a doctor, these marks were caused by an adult.
Another testimony concerns a couple whose son is looked after in a Parisian crèche of the People and Baby group. Having collected the confessions of an employee denouncing the inappropriate behaviour of her colleagues (children left unsupervised, fed with expired yoghurts, pulled ears, etc.), this couple filed a complaint in October 2023, alongside three other families.
In Lyon, in another nursery, a similar situation: a 4 and a half month old baby was found with large marks on his face. The parents then accused the management of mistreatment and dysfunction.
What was the reaction of the nurseries?
The group People and Baby denies the accusations and is threatening to sue the parents for defamation.
Several private daycare centers, including Babylou, People and Baby, Les Petits Chaperons Rouges and La Maison Bleue, have even hired a communications agency to deal with the book’s release. Some of these groups have even taken the lead by communicating with their employees on Monday.
“The book presents serious accusations against People & Baby as well as its founder and former director, Christophe Durieux”the group said. “We take these revelations extremely seriously, and the practices described in the book shock us deeply, because they are completely out of step with the values we hold today. […] Independent audits will be put in place to examine our practices in detail, and we are committed to transparently reporting on the actions implemented and their follow-up.”
In 2023, a report from the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS) had already warned of the “institutional abuse” weighing on nursery staff, calling for a “cultural change” within these establishments.
According to Victor Castanet, the former Minister of Family Affairs, Aurore Bergé, tried to oppose the establishment of a parliamentary inquiry mission aimed at clarifying the dysfunctions in private daycare centers.
Structural problems
Although the death of an 11-month-old baby in a private nursery in Lyon in 2022 had already shed a harsh light on the dysfunctions in certain structures, the situation is far from uniform across the country.
Currently, France has 460,000 collective childcare places, 50% of which are in public daycare centers, 27% in private daycare centers and 23% in community daycare centers.
Alongside nurseries “of high quality, driven by in-depth pedagogical reflection”we also find “establishments of very poor quality”, which can lead to “deficiencies in emotional security and in awareness” toddlers, noted the Igas in its report.
The Inspection highlighted three structural problems in particular: the low level of supervision, the shortage of professionals and insufficient controls in a rapidly expanding private sector.
The “voracity” of certain private groups has been “dramatic”, believes Victor Castanet
There “voracity” of certain groups of private nurseries combined with the“inaction” public authorities have had impacts “dramatic” on the sector and on children, underlines the investigative journalist Victor Castanet whose book The Ogres (Flammarion), which comes out on Wednesday, September 18.
In an interview with AFP, the author of Gravediggersan investigation which in 2022 revealed cases of embezzlement and mistreatment at the private nursing home giant Orpea, also mentions the “non-aggression pact” which was apparently concluded between the former Minister of Families, Aurore Bergé, and the private nursery lobby.
Who are the ogres?
The ogres are the ones who eat the children in the stories. But it is also the voracity, the obsession of the groups to grow bigger and bigger. In the majority of daycare centers, it goes well. And the staff work with a deep commitment, often a lot of love for the children, and do it with few resources, being very badly paid.
And besides that, there are abuses put in place at the headquarters of certain groups. There are cost optimization practices, a +low-cost+ dynamic, which have harmful effects on the entire sector, where financial indicators, occupancy rates, will be favored over quality.
With dramatic impacts on children. There is this private nursery near Lille, where there are nine children who were allegedly victims of abuse. Blows, scratches, punishments in the dark, humiliation, deprivation of food. These children still have regular nightmares, there have been developmental delays and problems with socialization, in their relationships with others, and especially with adults.
Beyond the responsibility of certain groups, you point out the inaction of public authorities, which would have favored the dynamic of “low-cost”.
Some groups have slashed prices by promising that they would do just as well and this movement has been accompanied by a certain number of town halls, communities and ministries which, between two offers, have almost always chosen the cheapest and lowest bidder.
There is another responsibility of the State which is that of the method of financing: Bercy and the Court of Auditors have pushed for the implementation of an hourly billing system which encourages all municipal, associative and private operators to maximize their occupancy rate, to replace each absence, to fill each gap in order to receive as much public funding as possible.
The State’s responsibility is all the greater because everyone warned them that this system was a disaster, but the French administration insisted and did not want to question its operation.
You also mention a “non-aggression pact” which was supposedly concluded between the former Minister for Families, Aurore Bergé, and the general delegate of the Federation of nursery companies, Elsa Hervy.
They exchanged closely every day on secure applications. There was a request, to which the private groups responded, to never criticize government policy and to support the minister.
In return, Aurore Bergé showed a form of leniency towards private actors, and transmitted their messages during her speeches. She stated that she had never given any specific instructions, that there had never been any agreement – which contradicts the testimonies and documents that were sent to me.
Related News :