One year ago, on April 13, 2023, the Jean-Escudié center, established since 1967 in Barcelonnette, became a children’s home. The Department entrusted the management of this structure to ADSEA 04, Departmental Association for the Protection of Children and Adults. One year later, what is the situation?
A temporary capacity of 22 young people
“This year was dedicated to the recovery of the establishment with a significant salary component because the team was in difficulty, many at a standstill. We took advantage of this time to recreate a team adapted to taking care of children and this is still in progress. We are still in the process of recruiting a specialized educator to run our wood workshop, a nurse and a psychologist but our team is already sufficient to take care of the children entrusted to us by the departments of 04, from 13, 84 and we have requests from 06“, begins Damien Scano, general director of ADSEA, surrounded by Roselyne Touquet and Olivier Viles, president and vice-president of the association.
“Currently we have authorization for 22 children. They are between 10 and 18 years old. It’s temporary and when the teams are complete, we will be able to welcome 35 young people“, further specifies Mehdi Aït-Amara, the director who took office last November.
Young people are placed in the Barcelonnette Children’s Home for family and socio-educational difficulties. It is child welfare which entrusts their custody to the structure in application of the children’s judge.
Build partnerships
In Barcelonnette, they are currently grouped together within the same unit, Edelweiss, based in the historic building and in the former director’s villa for the older and more independent ones, most of whom attend training centers. of apprentices.
The past year has also been used by the management team and Marina Martineau, the head of department, to renew partnerships with the gendarmerie which provides prevention workshops, the Maison du Bois whose technician comes to run the carpentry workshop, the Ubaye artistic school whose plastic arts teacher works with young people. During the passage of the Olympic flame, their creations will be revealed.
“Reopening the establishment to the outside world was our objective. Young people are dismissed from clubs in the valley and children educated in Barcelonnette establishments“, adds Mehdi Aït-Amara who works with all the teams of the Children’s House to integrate it into the life of the valley and ensure that the young people entrusted to them can build a course in order to be as well equipped as possible to achieve autonomy.
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