The announcement aroused concern among child protection associations. On Monday, Elisabeth Borne, the Prime Minister, and Charlotte Caudel, the Secretary of State in charge of Children, announced the payment of aid of 1,500 euros for young people leaving child welfare ( ASE) at 18 years old.
An announcement which aroused concern among child protection associations. “Too many gray areas remain regarding the conditions for granting this aid which risks being neither universal nor sufficient to compensate for the amount of the nest egg that certain young people are today entitled to receive, was alarmed Cause Majeur, a collective of around thirty associations, collectives and personalities working on child protection. It is unimaginable that this reform would be financed on the backs of young people who would find themselves losing out. »
Currently, young people who reach the age of majority are entitled to receive a nest egg consisting of the back-to-school allowance. During the duration of their placement with the ASE, the amount of the allowance is placed in an account at the Caisse des Dépôts. When they reach the age of majority – and for thirty years – young people are entitled to request payment of this sum. The 2016 law which established this system provides that each minor monitored by the ASE be informed of this right during an interview one year before reaching the age of majority or as part of the project for the child.
42% of eligible young people requested payment of their nest egg
42% of eligible young people have requested this payment since the creation of the system in 2016, indicates 20 minutes the Caisse des Dépôts. The average amount donated is 885 euros. This average amount, less than the 1,500 euros of the new aid, is one of the arguments put forward by the Secretary of State to defend the measure.
“The current nest egg system, built to help, turns out to be unfair and too complicated,” explained Charlotte Caubel on the X network on Wednesday. Too many young people in the ASE are not entitled to it; I am thinking in particular of those who no longer have parents, or whose parents no longer have parental authority. »
How many young people find themselves in the situation described by the Secretary of State? A study by the Drees brought a partial answer: in 2021, 204,492 children were welcomed at the ASE. Just under 2% were wards of the state. This study does not detail, for example, the number of unaccompanied foreign minors who are eligible for this assistance within the scope envisaged by the government.
Near 20 minutesCharlotte Caubel’s office specifies that “less than a third of young people in ASE now see their back-to-school allowance deposited with the Caisse des Dépôts”.
The associations are, however, concerned about a bad calculation: these 1,500 euros could harm certain children, according to them. A child placed in care from the age of ten to the age of 14 could receive 1,658 euros in back-to-school allowances, thus calculated Lyes Louffok, child rights activist. The Cause Majeur collective is also concerned about children whose monitoring by the ASE stops before they reach the age of majority.
Fears that those around the Secretary of State claim to have heard. The outlines of this new aid are only at the draft stage, we are assured: “Everything has to be built. There is no question of taking away anyone’s rights. » Charlotte Caubel should soon meet the stakeholders concerned to discuss this new support.