Break Poverty Foundation celebrates Child Welfare Youth Mentoring Decree

We are delighted to announce the promulgation of the decree on the implementation of mentoring for young people in the care of the Aide Sociale à l’Enfance (ASE), in line with the Taquet law of February 7, 2022. This decree marks a decisive step towards unconditional access to mentoring for all ASE youth aged eleven and over.

By clarifying the rules for implementing ASE mentoring, this decree will speed up the deployment of this scheme, mentoring having become a right for all ASE young people aged 11 and over since the Taquet law. At the same time, another decree was promulgated concerning the implementation of sponsorship for children entrusted to the ASE.

ASE’s upward trajectory: essential solutions for expanding demand

Aide Sociale à l’Enfance (ASE) is an essential pillar of child protection in France, operating under the authority of the departments since the decentralization laws of 1983. Placed under the authority of the President of the Departmental Council, the ASE’s primary mission is to intervene on behalf of children and their families, by deploying actions to prevent, protect and combat abuse. Of the ~370,000 ASE measures pronounced in 2021, 53% were placements (for example, in institutions or foster families) while 47% were home support. Between 2002 and 2017, the number of young people cared for by the ASE rose by 27% to 329,000, including 308,400 minors and 21,400 young adults aged 18 to 21. In 2023, some 570,000 young people, including 14,000 adults, will benefit from the ASE, a figure that will continue to climb in 2024. This uninterrupted growth highlights the crucial importance of adapting and reinforcing support and guidance systems to meet the growing needs of this vulnerable population.

ASE mentoring: an ongoing commitment from Break Poverty Foundation

Since its inception, Break Poverty Foundation has been strongly committed to the fight against child poverty and social exclusion, focusing in particular on the development of mentoring for young people in the child welfare system. This initiative is the result of an evolutionary and collaborative process, marked by a number of significant milestones.

In 2020, under the impetus of the “Réussite Connectée” program, Break Poverty Foundation initiated a process aimed at supporting and equipping disadvantaged young people, thus identifying a need for specific mentoring for ASE children at risk of dropping out of school. This awareness marked the start of an intensive experiment, running from 2020 to 2022, with government support for the “1 young person 1 mentor” program. This phase enabled mentoring initiatives to be tested and developed in over 25 départements, leading to the creation of tools and an in-depth impact assessment. The conclusions of this experiment highlighted the crucial need to support departments in the effective implementation of mentoring and sponsorship by the ASE. This finding was echoed in the enactment of the Taquet law in February 2022, making it compulsory to systematically offer mentoring and sponsorship to every child entrusted to the Aide Sociale à l’Enfance.

In 2023-24, Break Poverty Foundation is stepping up its efforts to specifically support departments in this approach, benefiting from funding from the Direction Générale de la Cohésion Sociale (DGCS) and Banque des Territoires. This phase includes tailor-made support for departments through regular exchanges, as well as the development of a roadmap to effectively guide the government in the implementation of ASE mentoring.

In this way, Break Poverty Foundation is fully committed to contributing to the scaling-up of mentoring for young people under the care of the ASE, by raising awareness, providing operational support and structuring the efforts of the departments.

From the Taquet 2022 law to the February 2024 implementing decree: a victory for mentoring and sponsorship of ASE children

The 2022 Taquet law on child welfare (Aide Sociale à l’Enfance – ASE) marks a decisive step in the promotion of mentoring and sponsorship for young people in the care of this service. It establishes an essential provision making it compulsory to systematically offer mentoring to every child entrusted to the ASE, as well as the possibility of sponsorship if this is in the child’s best interests, thus underlining the vital importance of such support in the lives of these young people in vulnerable situations.

Since then, Break Poverty Foundation has played an active role in advocating for the inclusion of mentoring and sponsorship in this law, recognizing their transformative potential for these young people. By engaging in this process, we have helped to ensure that the voices of children in care are heard, and that their specific needs are taken into account in the legislative framework.

The implementing decree, promulgated on February 16, 2024, specifies the procedures for implementing mentoring and sponsorship for children in the care of the ASE. It provides essential clarifications, notably with regard to the requirement for parental authorization, the administrative and judicial profile of mentors and sponsors, the obligation to sign agreements with associations, and the commitment and monitoring of mentoring and sponsorship through the signing of individual agreements between the ASE, the association, the establishment and the young person. The decree thus provides a clear framework for the launch of mentoring for young people in the ASE.

Today, Break Poverty Foundation celebrates the progress we’ve made in rolling out ASE mentoring: our ongoing commitment to working collaboratively with mentoring departments and associations is testament to our determination to create a fairer, brighter future for every child in the ASE. Together, we are bringing about positive change that transcends the boundaries of poverty and social exclusion, offering these young people the chance of a better future.

 

Photos credits : John Schnobrich (Unsplash) et Kenny Eliason (Unsplash).