Child and youth welfare facilities NPM recommends increased expansion of outpatient support The major differences between Tyrol with 0.65% and Vienna with 1.06% can only be partly explained by the idiosyncrasies of the large city. Why the figures between Styria and Tyrol differ so much and the data from the other Laender diverge to such an extent is not plausible to the NPM. The Laender are thus requested to find the causes of this development and to do everything in their power to prevent out-of-home care through an extended and closely meshed package of outpatient, family-supporting measures. The Association of Austrian Child and Youth Welfare Facilities (Dachverband Österreichischer Kinder- und Jugendhilfeeinrichtungen) followed these demands in a press release. Cooperation with Ombuds Offices for Children and Youths For years, there has been a cooperation agreement with the Ombuds Offices for Children and Youths of the Laender that functions very well. Valuable suggestions and invitations for visits were made once again in 2017. A lively sharing of experience took place with the NPM. The Ombuds Offices for Children and Youths were also invited to draft their own report on their observations, which was attached to the special report of the AOB on children and their rights in public institutions and facilities. NGO Forum 2017 The NGO Forum 2017 was dedicated to children and adolescents. Representatives of human rights NGOs as well as from the federal ministries and the Laender attended sessions on the topic of “Protecting children and adolescents – preventing violence”. One of the four workshops on offer dealt with the topic of “Children and adolescents in state care“. XX  Further harmonisation of the Laender minimum standards in the socio-pedagogical care of children and adolescents should be pursued on a nationwide level. XX  The NPM demands the expansion of outpatient, family-supporting assistance to avoid and reduce the out-of-home care of minors. 2.3.2 State must protect against violence 64 Upbringing free of violence is a human right Article 2 of the Federal Constitutional Act on the Rights of Children (Bundesverfassungsgesetz über die Rechte von Kindern) stipulates that every child who is taken from its familiar surroundings either temporarily or permanently is entitled to special protection and assistance from the state. Article 8 ECHR also protects the right to private life in addition to the right to family life. This includes the right to self-determination of one’s own body and the protection of physical integrity. States have therefore the obligation to protect children and adolescents from all forms of physical violence, in particular sexual violence. Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) also stipulates undertaking pertinent preventive measures to prevent violence to and sexual assault of children and adolescents.