Abuse, insults, humiliation… A new report commissioned by the government pinpoints reception in nurseries and recommends far-reaching reforms.
By NJ with AFP
© ANTOINE BOUREAU / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
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The problems in French crèches are not limited solely to the lack of places. Indeed, like the other reception sectors for vulnerable and dependent people (such as retirement homes or establishments for the disabled), the “quality of reception” is not always there. This is the report of the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (Igas) which submitted a report to the government on Tuesday, April 11.
The authors are alarmed at the “very disparate” situation from one establishment to another, the best alongside the worst, and call for a “change of outlook” on these places where young children are left. They also advocate profound reforms to better prevent child abuse.
To carry out their work, the inspectors visited 36 public and private establishments across France. They also distributed a questionnaire to which 5,275 directors, 12,545 crèche employees and 27,671 parents responded.
Reported cases of abuse
Their report is alarming: it emphasizes that toddlers can be exposed to the risk of neglect. Many of the adults interviewed described situations resembling abuse, the authors point out, referring to children forgotten on the toilet, deprived of a nap for lack of sufficient beds, or on the contrary left to cry until what they fall asleep.
Other testimonies mention children who are not given anything to drink, “that way, we change diapers less”, who are left too long in their soiled diaper, who are humiliated or insulted (” you’re whining for nothing”, “you smell bad”, etc.), which are force-fed by pinching their noses to make them open their mouths, or even physically abused by pulling their hair or attaching to a radiator.
“There is no question of experiencing a nursing home 2.0 crisis”
The French Federation of Crèche Companies (FFEC) indicated that it would study the report in detail, and that it intended “to make proposals so that all the malfunctions reported can no longer be reproduced”.
Jean-Christophe Combe, Minister of Solidarity, assured that “all the recommendations” of the document will be taken into account, and wishes to act “quickly”. For her part, Charlotte Caubel, Secretary of State in charge of Children, promised that she would be “vigilant in the implementation of the recommendations and controls”. “There is no question of experiencing an Ehpad 2.0 crisis”.
The first announcements should arrive sometime next spring, as part of the “public service for early childhood”, promised by Emmanuel Macron. This project has a quantitative dimension, with the necessary creation of more places, but also a qualitative dimension, underlined the minister’s entourage.
The government had commissioned the Igas, after the death of an 11-month-old baby in a private nursery in Lyon in June, a case in which an employee was indicted, suspected of having made the child ingest a caustic product.
Review the length of parental leave
For Igas, improving the quality of reception must go through a strengthening of controls, an increase in the rate of supervision and the level of qualification of professionals, but also by a mode of financing of establishments conditioned on quality objectives. .
The rapporteurs also stress the need to remedy the lack of attractiveness of early childhood professions, which leads to chronic understaffing and therefore burnout of professionals in post. This is an “aggravating factor as much as (a) symptom” of the difficulties in welcoming children well, according to them.
Finally, they warn of the fact that, for a baby under one year old, spending 40 hours a week in a crèche, with what that “implies noise, agitation, risk of overstimulation”, is not in any case not necessarily the answer best suited to his needs. It therefore calls for “reviewing the duration and payment rules for maternal, paternal and parental leave” to “increase the possibility of parental presence with the child during the first year of life”.