National Preventive Mechanism 5.3.8 152 Positive observations Positive changes after change of management In a facility for unaccompanied minor refugees in Tyrol, far-reaching improvements were observed after changing the management. Redesigning the rooms made the hallways, common areas and rooms far more welcoming and cosy. During the visit, the adolescents were open and cheerful, independent and interested, and were not afraid to address their wishes and questions to the care team. Thanks to special school promotion, some of the adolescents were able to attend secondary schools. A new concept and the child-friendly implementation thereof enabled a shared accommodation to transform a problem facility into a showcase in a very creative way. Suggestions were implemented The second visits to two more facilities for unaccompanied minor refugees in Lower Austria also indicated that all of the commission’s suggestions had been implemented. What was very positively assessed was that care in the native tongue is possible in all of the necessary languages. Best practice The entire staff of a socio-therapeutic shared accommodation in Burgenland had been working there for more than eleven years. Because of this, the attachment to the care givers is so strong that young adults maintain strong contacts to the shared accommodation even after they have moved out. They come by for dinner, help out at parties and trips and act as a role model for younger residents. The staffing ratio is very high, meaning that three pedagogues and one person doing community service work there at the same time during the day. In the night, there is an additional stand-by service alongside the main service. The staff are very well educated and take part regularly in further education programmes. Even the two kitchen aids have pedagogical training. Stays in psychiatric wards have not been necessary for years for children and adolescents who come from difficult family relationships and have experienced severe trauma.