Entrepreneurs for the most vulnerable
People under judicial supervision
People who commit crimes or offences should not be viewed only in the light of their past. They should also be viewed in terms of their future: regardless of their past choices, which are often the result of a difficult background, we must support them, whatever their age, so they integrate society.
Youth in conflict with the law
Our conviction: no one is born a delinquent or remains a delinquent, provided they grow up in the proper environment. Our mission: to reconcile sanction and education. We offer a range of diversified and innovative responses to criminal offences.
They are adapted to the behavioural difficulties of the youths we take in, whose trajectories are marked by failures, breakdowns and acts of violence. The aim of all our actions is to prevent and limit the detention of minors and to help them integrate and find their place within society.
Juvenile Criminal Justice Advocacy
At Groupe SOS, we have always considered that minors who commit offences, or even crimes, are above all children in danger. We believe that they can always make amends. In this sense, it is not just a matter of monitoring and punishing children who have broken the law, but of making the legal decision into an opportunity to influence their paths and genuinely halt the deadly spiral of repeated crimes.
Reinforced Educational Centres
CERs (Centres Éducatifs Renforcés) are intended to take care, according to the Order of 11 September 2019, of juvenile delinquents who often already have a difficult legal history behind them. They provide intensive activity programs during three to six months periods or according to needs, depending on the project and permanent educational supervision. They aim to create a break in the minor’s living conditions and to prepare their reintegration.
Closed Educational Centres
CEFs (Centres Éducatifs Fermés) receive juveniles placed under the Order of 11 September 2019, in accordance with a judicial supervision order, a suspended sentence with probation, an external placement or following a parole. They are intended to care for multi-recidivist juvenile offenders in serious difficulty or on the verge of marginalisation. Within these centres, the minors admitted are subject to surveillance and control measures that ensure enhanced educational and pedagogical follow-up adapted to their personality. Nevertheless, the establishment is more legally than physically ‘closed’, as it remains open to the outside environment, particularly in the third phase of care.
Drop-in and Reception Centres
LVAs (Lieux de Vie et d’Accueil) take in minors and young adults with behavioural problems or difficulties in adapting to society, or who are in a state of temporary or prolonged distress which prevents them from being well-integrated into society. They also take in young people in situations of social insecurity or exclusion, regardless of geographical location. They are increasingly an alternative to the traditional placement of juveniles entrusted to the child welfare system or to the Youth Judicial Protection Service. They serve as the regular and communal living environments for the youths and the permanent staff running the centre. They can be authorised by the PJJ based on the Order of 11 September 2019 and by the ASE based on article 375-3 of the Civil Code.
Educational Units for Diversified Accommodation
UEHD (Unités Éducatives d’Hébergement Diversifié) offer care in host families or in independent housing (flat, room in young workers’ hostels, etc.). This scheme enables teenagers to find a compromise between the need for support and the development of their independence.
Penal Reparation Service
This is an open educational service that provides support and follow-up for juveniles who have committed a delinquent act.
Perpetrators of domestic violence
During the 2019 summit against domestic violence organised by the government, several measures were announced, including the monitoring of perpetrators of violence and the creation of two monitoring centres per region. These CPCAs (Centres for the Care of Perpetrators of Domestic Violence) are intended for perpetrators with short sentences or suspended sentences and are therefore not intended for homicide perpetrators.
The CPCAs help deter perpetrators from committing further acts of violence, make them more accountable, and allow victims to continue to live at home if they so wish, so that they are not left homeless.
The Eviction platform
In March 2020, in partnership with the Ministry of Justice and the State Secretariat for Equality between Women and Men, Eviction was launched, a temporary housing platform that allows violent spouses to be evicted from their homes in order to keep women and children safe. While indicators have shown a resurgence of domestic violence during the lockdowns, the Eviction platform has made it possible, since spring 2020, to facilitate the eviction of violent spouses from the home, by promoting practical and immediate solutions.
Judicial Supervision with Probationary Placement
In the same context, Groupe SOS is a member of the Ministry of Justice’s working group on the management of perpetrators of domestic violence. Within this framework, an experiment – the Judicial Supervision with Probationary Placement (CJPP) – has been launched on two pilot sites (La Cordée in Nîmes and Appui 67 in Colmar). The scheme includes reinforced monitoring from the moment the offender is placed under judicial supervision, and then, when the sentence is handed down, post-sentence follow-up. Judicial supervision with probationary placement is an innovation that help protect the victim when the accused, while presumed innocent, is required to reside in a specific place. In 2022, 10 pilot sites will be running.
The PPMJ scheme (Persons placed under judicial supervision)
The objective of the PPMJ scheme, in conjunction with the justice system, is to reduce the risk of repeat offences through distancing and providing support. These people are housed in flats in the Bordeaux area and in Libourne.
La Cordée
La Cordée, in Nîmes, supports violent men placed under judicial supervision, as an alternative to imprisonment. They are housed in independent or collective flats either by judicial decision, or at the end of police custody while awaiting trial, or as part of a sentence reduction. In addition to accommodation, La Cordée’s social team guide these men through a socio-educational and therapeutic program: individual interviews, group therapy, therapeutic workshops and themed weekends enable work on the issue of domestic violence.
The CPCA Charles Perrens
The Charles Perrens hospital in Bordeaux is a CPCA offering a day centre for perpetrators of domestic violence, with psychological and social support. It is therefore a unique scheme that relies on the skills of both a health establishment, the Charles Perrens hospital (which is the administrative holder), and Groupe SOS, which guarantees a comprehensive support covering health, legal and socio-educational aspects. People can access this scheme on a voluntary basis or by court order. This CPCA Centre Nouvelle Aquitaine will operate in 4 departments: Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, Charente-Maritime and Dordogne.
People arrested or convicted of terrorism
Because no one is ever at the end of their story, Groupe SOS assists radicalised people to reconnect with French republican values and find their place in society, while individually addressing their health, work and personal development issues.
Individualised support and social reaffiliation programme
The PAIRS (Individualised Support and Social Reaffiliation Programme) is intended for people who have been radicalised or are in the process of being radicalised. The goal is to offer reinforced, comprehensive and multidisciplinary individual support, while consolidating the work on disengagement, so as to prevent recidivism or spiralling towards violent radicalisation.