According to the latest child and youth welfare statistics, 13,050 children were in out-of-home care in Austria in 2024. The differences between the federal states are enormous: between 5.5 and 11.9 children per 1,000 under-18s are affected. In order to avoid cases of "placement in full care", as it is officially called, as far as possible, the Austrian Ombudsman Board is calling for the expansion of outpatient assistance to enable minors to grow up in families with support on the occasion of Children's Rights Day. Ombudsperson Bernhard Achitz: "An approach based on children's rights must respect and strengthen the dignity and the physical and mental integrity of the child. Politicians must create the framework conditions for this."
Child and youth welfare has been the responsibility of the federal states since 2019
The NGOs, with whom the Austrian Ombudsman Board is in close and regular dialogue, see - in addition to child poverty - the transfer of child and youth welfare as one of the main problems. Since a constitutional amendment in 2019, the responsibility for child and youth welfare lies entirely with the federal states, which the Ombudsman Board has repeatedly criticised. "Nationwide uniform standards would be necessary, because in a country as small as Austria, it is unacceptable that there are such large regional differences, for example in support services, staffing ratios and group sizes in shared child and youth care centres, in the training requirements for the staff there, but also in the energy invested in preventing the removal of children."
FICE standards should be mandatory in all federal states
"Children's rights must be the central point of reference in shared care centres for children and young people," says Achitz, referring to the FICE standards for out-of-home education: "They should be mandatory throughout Austria." With the "HANDlungsBUCH für die stationären Erziehungshilfen", there is now also a compact overview work for child and youth welfare. It is intended to contribute to uniform training and quality standards.
More about the book:https://volksanwaltschaft.gv.at/aktuelles/artikel/neuerscheinung-handlungsbuch-fuer-die-stationaeren-erziehungshilfen/
Basic child protection: From the Ombudsman Board's NGO forum to the government programme
In order to fulfil its role as a national human rights institution, the Austrian Ombudsman Board works closely with civil society organisations. In 2024, the Ombudsman Board's NGO Forum was dedicated entirely to the topic of children's rights and combating child poverty. Achitz: "An important topic at the time was basic child protection. I am pleased that it has now also found its way into the government programme. It would be good if it were implemented before cuts affecting children, for example in social welfare, take effect."
Conference proceedings NGO forums:https://volksanwaltschaft.gv.at/berichte/ngo-forum-tagungsbaende/
Unaccompanied refugee children: child and youth welfare services should take over custody
Another point where no improvements have been made since the NGO Forum 2024 is the situation of unaccompanied refugee minors (UMF). The commissions of the Austrian Ombudsman Board dealing with preventive human rights monitoring have repeatedly found that their care is inadequate. They criticised the fact that children have no legal guardians as long as they are in federal care - but it usually takes much longer than expected before they are taken into provincial care. In the centres where they are accommodated, hygiene conditions are sometimes unacceptable. German courses are not available. There is a lack of staff. The daily rates that the centres receive are significantly lower than in child and youth welfare. Ombudsperson Achitz: "It would make sense for child and youth welfare services to take over the care of unaccompanied refugee children as soon as they arrive in Austria. Of course, this would also require appropriate funding."
