Child and youth welfare facilities 2.3 Child and youth welfare facilities 2.3.1 Introduction The NPM commissions visited 88 child and youth welfare facilities in the year under review. Major differences in quality were found in the individual facilities. Whereas in some shared accommodations measures had to be taken urgently to improve the living conditions in terms of human rights, others were described as examples of best practice. There were no grounds for criticism of the pedagogical care work on several visits; however, other system-related deficits were noticeable. The NPM thus recommended changes and contacted the owners and operators of the facilities, the supervisory authorities and the politically competent members of the government. Clear differences in quality Child and youth welfare should primarily open up opportunities for children and adolescents to adequately develop physically, mentally, socially and emotionally. This requires more than just the commitment to accept the political responsibility for continued development. What is also needed is networking with the health care and educational system as well as all other societal players who provide services for children, adolescents and young adults. The NPM considers this to be not sufficiently guaranteed. Contrary to the demand raised by the NPM and expert groups for the nationwide continued development and standardisation of existing legal regulations, a reform of the distribution of responsibilities was adopted in December 2018. Responsibility for the legislation in child and youth welfare matters was thus completely transferred to the Laender. The condition for this was the conclusion of an agreement between the Federal Government and the Laender pursuant to Article 15a of Federal Constitutional Law. Due to criticism from expert groups and on the part of the NPM, the continuation of existing child and youth welfare protection levels was anchored in the agreement as was an obligation to cooperate in allowing adjustments to standards in accordance with a professional state of knowledge if requested by any Land. There is, above all, neither alignment nor consensus between the Laender on the definition of infrastructural criteria (staffing ratio, group size, training educational requirements). This will continue to worsen with the withdrawal of the Federal Government. Nationwide binding regulations for child and youth welfare are more important than ever; they will however not be achieved through the agreement pursuant to Article 15a of Federal Constitutional Law alone. Besides, differing regulations in laws, directives and standards result in different definitions of quality in the out-of-home care process. Federal Children‘s and Youth Service Act ceases to be in force in 2020 On the initiative of FICE Austria (International Federation of Educative Communities), the problems associated with the placement and care of minors in residential facilities was discussed and backed up with scientific support. FICE Austria quality standards complete 64