When the provisions are applied, the welfare of the children and
adolescents must have priority. Whenever possible, minors should be
placed with relatives or foster families. If this is not possible, they must
be cared for in special facilities for minors.
Placement with foster
families has priority
The commissions have visited several such facilities and have been
able to identify problem areas. Finding foster families is very difficult in
many cases, which is why many unaccompanied minor refugees and
asylum seekers are cared for in facilities. The NPM was not able to
determine whether adequate steps are being taken by the Laender to
find foster families. An improvement of the situation, however, would
be desirable and necessary.
Another challenge involves siblings. Siblings are often separated and
placed in different facilities, especially when older siblings have
attained their majority. Older siblings are placed in facilities for adults,
while the younger ones must remain in facilities for minors, at least as
long as the older siblings have not received custody. Against the
backdrop of fleeing their home together, this is very stressful for
everyone involved.
Siblings should not be
separated
Commission 2 documented that minors in two facilities in Salzburg
were supposed to purchase and prepare their food themselves to
promote their independence. They received a budget of EUR 45.50 per
week from funds provided under the basic provisions to spend at their
discretion. The commission found that the cooking appliances were in
very poor condition and there were not enough utensils, such as
cutlery, glasses and cups. As a result, many minors ate almost
exclusively cheap food that could be cooked easily by someone with
no cooking experience.
The commission’s criticism did not refer to the approach of getting the
minors used to handling their own money. However, the commission
called for ensuring that they eat healthy and balanced meals and that
they receive guidance and supervision to ensure that they go grocery
shopping and cook together and get to know and try out a diverse
range of foods. A possible variant would be to introduce various types
of partial board, where they at least prepare lunch or dinner according
to the principles of healthy nutrition. Furthermore, the NPM doubts that
balanced nutrition for children and adolescents who are still growing
is possible on a budget of EUR 6.50 per day. Therefore, such per diem
rates should be evaluated and raised. The Salzburg regional
government emphasised vis-à-vis the NPM that they planned to take
this criticism as an opportunity to develop standards for the individual
areas (residential issues, board, cleaning, day-care, psychological
support and deployment of qualified professionals, expansion of
psychotherapy), which would then become a component of
performance agreements.
61
Funds provided under
the reception conditions
inadequate
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