The Departmental Child Protection Observatory of Haute-Vienne, which brings together all the actors and programs in prevention and protection, is celebrating its tenth anniversary. A decade which saw the figures explode and the situation become more than alarming.
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Child Social Assistance is a responsibility that falls under the Departments. In 2007, a law ordered them to create, in this matter, Departmental Child Protection Observatories (ODPE), referring to a National Observatory (ONPE).
The ODPE of Haute-Vienne was created in 2014. It celebrated its tenth anniversary this Thursday, November 28, 2024, during a major conference at the Espace Noriac in Limoges. Conference which looked back, with all the stakeholders concerned, on this decade of experience.
And the observation he is currently drawing in Haute-Vienne is more than alarming. The numbers have never been so high. Developments have never seemed so worrying. The needs have never been so great, while deep cuts in the budgets of the Departmental Councils are looming…
Under the presidency of the Departmental Council, and its dedicated services, ODPE 87 brings together all the stakeholders in the subject, from the world of health, education, justice and the associative fabric. From the start, according to Gulsen Yildirim, vice-president (PS) in charge of children, families and health democracy“it was a political choice in Haute-Vienne to have the largest possible steering committee, even more than provided for by law, in order to have the most precise inventory possible, and better collaborative work. “
The missions of these ODPEs are multiple, among others:
- Collect, review and analyze data relating to children at risk in the department.
- Find out about any evaluation of establishments and services involved in the field of Child Protection.
- Monitor the implementation of the departmental plan and formulate opinions.
- Formulate proposals and opinions on the implementation of the child prevention and protection policy in the department.
- Develop a multi-year departmental program of training needs in prevention and child protection.
The latest departmental child protection plan, developed by him, has just been voted on by the Haute-Vienne Departmental Council in October 2024. It is valid for the period 2025-2029.
Still according to Gulsen Yildirim, “everything has changed and it's really not the same situation as it was just five years ago. COVID and confinement were real catalysts, so much so that we saw a real wave of releases. So perhaps we are better at spotting domestic violence than before, particularly domestic violence, but the figures have exploded!“
In 2023, there were, all decisions combined, 2,437 social assistance measures for children in Haute-Vienne, an increase of 39% compared to 2014 (even greater increase over the period 2019-2024!) .
Of these measures, 1,180 were placement measures.
“When we came out of confinement, we were faced for the first time with the non-implementation of measures, that is to say, we could no longer provide space! Today, things are better, there are only around ten placement measures pending. But in some departments, it's more than a hundred!“
With the help of the research unit of the FrED lab at the University of Limoges, the ODPE has noted increasingly multiple problems among children in care: educational, behavioral, violence, suffering, disability, mental or psychological health as well. On these last points, Charlotte Loiseau, deputy general director of the Human Solidarity department of the Departmental Council, reuses the term “d’explosion“. “While the sector is suffering, we need to be able to work with it more than ever.“
Finally, if the vast majority of measures taken concern children aged 12 to 17 years (47%), an even higher figure concerns placement measures (56%, including 39% of 15-17 year olds), we are witnessing a significant increase in measures concerning the youngest, and even toddlers.
According to Nathalie Duroussaud, director of the solidarity, childhood center of the Departmental Council, “we have a reception structure for babies, called the Nursery. We went from 6-7 babies maximum in the past, to almost twenty today!“
If we do not take into account all the actors concerned (see above), 376 professionals, from doctors to socio-educational assistants, psychologists to territorial attachés, work at the Departmental Council for aid to childhood.
The budget allocated to prevention and child protection, all sectors combined, has increased considerably.
It was almost 37 million euros when the ODPE was created. Today it is 53.5 million (+45%). An additional 11 million euros were even voted for in 2023, to allow the creation of more reception places. Around 64 million, this is what is currently planned for next year.
The placement measures alone, whatever they may be, represent a cost of nearly 45 million euros.
As such, Haute-Vienne has 1,022 reception places, distributed as follows:
- 493 places in family placement (including 363 places with family assistants, the new name for host families, numbering 186 in Haute-Vienne)
- 188 places in dedicated structures
- 145 places in social children's homes in Limoges, Chaptelat, Dournazac and Magnac-Laval
- 71 places in living and reception areas
- 65 places in emergency structures
- 60 places in Educational Home Placement
In total, 189 places have been created since 2019. And a call for tenders for the creation of a “respite structure”, a device which will help avoid disruptions in certain placements, has just been launched.
But faced with the explosion that everyone is talking about, and the number of professionals, and budgets, and reception places, everything should increase in the coming years. Normally, because as Gulsen Yildirim wonders, “what about tomorrow with the drastic cuts in our budgets that are coming? But child protection is, and must remain, an absolute priority!“
As we have said, the next departmental child protection plan, for the period 2025-2025, has just been voted on.
In addition to the continuation and improvement of missions, a few areas have also been identified: better protection of physical and mental health, better openness to the outside world, better consideration of self-awareness.
Three axes, broken down into twenty-one actions, with the desire to highlight active and increased participation of parents and children in child protection, an intensification of the offer, particularly in terms of reception, and a real desire for openness to culture.
