National Preventive Mechanism 2.3 Institutions and facilities operated by child and youth welfare authorities 2.3.1 Introduction Rapid changes after recommendations During the year under review, the commissions visited 60 group homes and residential homes, where children and adolescents are cared for and brought up apart from their biological families. In a number of smaller facilities, there were no complaints; at some of them, the work with children and parents was even considered extraordinary. The commissions mentioned some of the deficits they found during the concluding meeting and they were corrected by the facilities very quickly. For example, in several cases, the privacy of the children and adolescents was improved by installing locks on the doors and making cabinets that could be locked available. In one facility, partition walls were installed between the toilets for the boys and those for the girls. Staff shortages due to longterm illnesses resulted in positions being filled. In another case, two existing places in a group home were filled; this relieved the strained situation. In several cases, upon the commissions’ recommendation, the facilities moved to properties that were more suitable for the needs of the minors being cared for. When deficits in the participation by the children and adolescents were found, the commissions recommended the introduction of teams among the children and “house parliaments”. This was implemented in numerous cases. Structural deficits, such as balconies needing repairs and windows that would not open, were remedied. Full residential care The commissions emphasised the willingness to cooperate and the great commitment on the part of the pedagogic staff. The quality they achieve cannot, however, disguise the existing structural problems and difficult framework conditions. The goal of this full residential care is to support all children and adolescents in their development to the highest degree possible, to process traumatic experiences and the many ways that social problems manifest themselves, to provide them with a secure environment and, if a return to their families is not possible, to accompany and support them on their path towards independence. Major challenges for facilities Due to the expansion of non-residential youth facilities that are already available and that are explicitly embedded in the Federal Children’s and Youth Service Act (Bundes-Kinder- und Jugendhilfegesetz), a change in the problem areas in child and youth welfare facilities is noticeable. More and more children and adolescents who need a very high level of care that cannot be provided in daytime or temporary live-in programmes live in these facilities. The fact that early non-residential help has a preventive effect and makes growing up in families more successful should be welcomed without reservation in the spirit of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The consequence of this is, however, that residential youth 102