National Preventive Mechanism Comprehensive requirements will be prescribed XX In December 2016 the content of the deficits objected to by the NPM was fully confirmed in the expert opinion commissioned by the supervisory authority. In the meantime, the competent authorities for child and youth welfare and protection have again committed to set requirements and to refine existing regulations in order to prevent professional standards being circumvented. The supervisory authority announced to the NPM that they will intend to conduct semi-annual inspections with the help of external experts in the coming two years. The Federal Ministry of Health and Women’s Affairs also announced that the necessary steps will be put in place. Compliance with official requirements must be closely monitored in problem facilities. 5.3.7 Unaccompanied minor refugees A large number of accommodations had to be provided within a short period due to the enormous increase in this group of asylum seekers in 2015. The number of new applications from unaccompanied minor refugees halved in 2016. Monitoring accommodation situation The AOB conducted ex-officio investigative proceedings in all of the Laender with the exception of Vorarlberg to determine the type of accommodation in which the unaccompanied minor refugees are housed. The result was that all Laender house minors up to the age of 14 in child and youth welfare facilities. The age group of the over 14-year-olds is usually cared for in facilities that provide reception conditions under the Basic Provision Agreement. Since the daily rates for shared accommodation have been increased to 95 euros, there are considerable differences in the financial possibilities of the individual facilities: 63.50 euros are paid for housing in residential homes and only 41.50 euros for fully-assisted living and housing facilities. In terms of the care provided, they differ in that a care giver is responsible for 10, 15 or 20 minors. As the minors are randomly allocated by the initial reception centre to the accommodation without any prior clearing, the places are not aligned to the needs of the individual minors. In Carinthia, Tyrol and Burgenland there are only residential groups. In Lower Austria and Upper Austria, unaccompanied minor refugees are cared for in residential groups with a few exceptions. In Salzburg, the over 14-year-olds are first housed in residential groups. If the caring facility determines that less care is necessary, they are allocated to other types of accommodation. In Vienna, only socio-pedagogical residential groups are approved since 2015. There are still 60 care places for unaccompanied minor refugees with 148