2023-09-28 20:49:19
“It’s a truly suffering sector.”, these words are those of Françoise Bertieaux, the new minister in charge of youth assistance within the government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. For months and months, the sector has been mobilizing. With two main requests: significant reinforcement in terms of recruitment and above all the creation of additional structural accommodation places in numbers for children who must be separated from their parents and placed in care.
We must continually be creative.
Coraline Smaniotto is a delegate to the SPJ, the Youth Protection Service, in Charleroi. And today, she clearly has a lot on her heart when she talks regarding her daily job, a job that she continues to love. She has been doing it for 14 years.
” The situation is becoming more and more complex. At the start, I managed nearly 90 files. Now, around sixty. But I don’t see the difference. We must constantly be creative to find places to accommodate young people and try to find solutions that are not always… adequate. It’s not normal to have to call hospitals to place children who are not sick, but we do it so as not to leave these children with their families, for fear that something will happen to them..”
Children are often lugged left and right.
Coraline Smaniotto continues her cry from the heart. ” When there is no place in an institution for children, they arrive in emergency reception centers. They are then lugged left and right. And when they begin to create a bond with certain stakeholders, we tell them, overnight, that’s it, it’s over, you’re going elsewhere. In this case, we become abusive and we create attachment disorder in some young people. I continue to do this job with desire and passion but sometimes I have doubts regarding what I do.”
The goal is to try to get the children to return home.
Samra Aggoud is Coraline Smaniotto’s colleague. She also has a heavy heart. “Accommodationshe says, is the last solution. This is what happens when you’ve tried everything. This can allow parents to take a break and question themselves. And in particular thanks to the help provided, there are sometimes family returns. This is always the goal when possible. You should know that in Charleroi, it is estimated that there is a shortage of between 150 and 200 childcare places..”
Our work is increasingly complex and we often tinker.
Charline Carbonelle works at the SPJ in Tournai. The reality is the same there. “To find more or less stable solutions for welcoming children, we tinker around to do the best. This is problematic for children who often have to change accommodation, sometimes returning home in the meantime. And for us, it’s a big frustration.”
The problems are numerous but known.
Michaël Verhelst is the director of the SPJ of Tournai but also the president of the union of Directors of Youth Aid. ” There is an obvious lack of managers in certain departments, the teams are incomplete or exhausted. Replacements are slow and there is an obvious problem with support. There is a lack of accommodation solutions but there is also a lack of family support solutions. “
For Michaël Verhelst, the sector should also be reorganized. “There is a problem of collaboration between different actors with that of youth assistance. We need to find together solutions that are more suited to increasingly complex and multifactorial problems. For example, we should once once more be able to call on front-line services such as PMS, psychologists, CPAS, etc., to move forward. And when it is not possible or it is imperative to protect the child, then we take control once more. But collaboration between everyone is essential.”
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