5. Facilities for children Findings from visits to facilities for children requiring immediate assistance ― Most of the facilities do not fit into the category of crisis points and children live there longer than ­forseen by the law. ― The facilities work insufficiently with the children’s families, which reduces the children’s chance of ­returning home. ― The facilities often focus primarily on securing material needs (food and accommodation), with insufficient emphasis on psychological assistance to the children. ― The facilities are often established in already existing facilities of different types, especially in children’s homes for children under 3 years of age ( “infant care centres”) or in existing children’s homes. In such cases, they cannot be considered a family facility as required by the law. On current topics of institutional education Representatives of the facilities request opportunities to discuss good practice and resolve unclear legal issues. Therefore, we organised two meetings with the directors of the facilities, representatives of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Prosecutor General’s Office. We discussed evaluation systems in facilities, decision-making on measures in education and work with restless children. Visits to facilities for institutional and protective education A series of visits to children’s homes, children’s homes with schools and institutions for juveniles began in 2019. These visits are focused on safety in the facility (prevention and addressing of bullying), elements of institutionality (motivation systems, body searches), privacy of children (within their rooms and sanitary facilities), the standard of individual outings, and preparation of children for life after leaving the facility. 17