Child and youth welfare facilities Recommendations for medication management implemented Commissions sometimes found medication cupboards unlocked, which poses a potential risk to children and adolescents. In one facility, epilepsy medication was stored unlocked in the kitchen; in another shared accommodation, the medication was in a lockable cupboard but it was stored together with toys. In another shared accommodation, the medication cupboard was in the kitchen where continuous monitoring cannot be ensured. The cupboard was then moved to the staffroom. In another case the medication cupboard was in a chaotic condition because nobody felt responsible for the continuous monitoring of supplies. It was recommended to appoint one person to be responsible for this. The shared accommodations are also recommended to store psychotropic medication separately from other medicinal products and to have the medication from the pharmacy blistered. On a positive note, these NPM recommendations were implemented in most cases with immediate effect. X The FICE quality standards should be used as an examination criterion on visits by the supervisory authorities to child and youth welfare facilities in all Laender. X The non-residential help programme, in particular for special target groups with higher risk factors, should be further expanded in Vienna. X The legal claim to support for young adults should be anchored in the law. The maximum age for this type of support should be raised throughout Austria. 2.3.2 67 The facility as a protective shelter Specific dangerous situations in shared accommodations Child and youth welfare residential facilities are designed to be a protective shelter for children and adolescents. It is paramount that they can fully guarantee this aspiration, as, due to the nature of the dependent relationships and power structures, fulltime care as well as the particular vulnerability of the minors, they are open to certain dangerous situations. A protection concept is thus necessary that includes measures for preventing and dealing with dangerous situations, attacks and violent incidents. Most of the sociopedagogical facilities now have a violence prevention concept and a sex education concept. However, these are often not or insufficiently applied in practice. The commissions regularly observe in facilities that the staff is not familiar with the content of the concepts or have not been trained in implementing them. Violent incidents on a daily basis The staff and the interviewed minors in a shared accommodation in Upper Austria reported that there were violent incidents every day and the police is called regularly. The minors told Commission 2 that they were afraid of one resident who also hits the caregivers and aimed a soft gun at another child. He had held boys and girls by the throat. The staff reported that the adolescents