Entrepreneurs for future generations
Child welfare
Groupe SOS has a wide range of innovative ways to help, support and care for children, teenagers and young adults with various difficulties. We place education at the heart of our practices. Our mission: to make sure every child, teenager and young person is offered the same opportunities.
Our child welfare schemes
Educational intervention in open environment (AEMO)
An AEMO (Action Educative en Milieu Ouvert) service implements a judicial decision with the purpose of protecting children who are still living with their families and whose living conditions are likely to put them at risk, or whose parents are facing challenges in their educational responsibilities. It should encourage the family to work together in the interests of the minor. It is centred on the rights and duties of the parents, who remain responsible for the protection and education of their child. Reinforced AEMO is based on the same legal framework and, over a period that is generally shorter (6 months) than a “classic” AEMO, requires more sustained intervention and holds the possibility, in some services, of providing emergency shelter when needed.
Social children’s home (MECS)
A MECS (Maison d’Enfants à Caractère Social) takes in, for stays of different lengths, children and young adults whose families are in temporary or long-term difficulty and are unable – on their own or with the help of relatives – to provide care and education to their children. The children are placed by the regional child welfare service or by the children’s judge, under administrative protection (CASF) or judicial protection – as children in danger or as delinquent children.
Diversified educational accommodation unit (UEHD)
A UEHD (Unité Éducative d’Hébergement Diversifié) offers placement in host families or in independent accommodation (flats, rooms in young workers’ hostels, etc.). This scheme enables teenagers to balance the need for support with the development of independence. Some of these UHDs are also dedicated to the care of young unaccompanied minors.
Emergency shelter services (SAU)
The purpose of a SAU (Services d’Accueil d’Urgence) is to provide young people with a safe place to rest, review their situation and plan for the future. The youths are taken in without delay or procedure, either within a foster family or in a group accommodation unit. The period of care varies between one day and three months (renewable). The purpose is to assess the minors’ situation through a socio-educational, psychological, educational and medical assessment and to provide individualised guidance.
Foster care service (PF)
The PF (Placement Familial) service is intended for minors in the care of the Child Welfare Agency who cannot remain with their own family. It provides at all times the possibility for a child to be taken in, day or night, at the home of a family assistant, within an institutional framework, for a duration determined by the situation at hand. The foster family environment is both an institutional setting (it belongs to the service) and a multi-disciplinary dynamic supported by the technical team: an educator and a psychologist.
Young workers’ hostels (FJT)
A FJT (Foyer de Jeunes Travailleurs) provides accommodation for young people aged 16 to 30 (whether they are in a precarious situation or not), jobseekers on benefit, those in training (apprenticeships, block release schemes, integration training, technical and vocational education, etc.) and students experiencing social or family breakdown. It has both a “housing” and a “socio-educational” function, helping to integrate young people into social life.
Educational day drop-in centre (SAJE)
A SAJE (Service d’Accueil de Jour Educatif) takes in any minor, for all or part of the day, if possible somewhere close to their home, in order to provide educational support, as well as assistance so the family can fulfil its parental duties. This system, which has been encouraged, fits into a child welfare plan in a very complementary way, between the traditional open environment systems and placement, and constitutes a genuine alternative to the latter.
Educational investigation services (MJIE)
A MJIE (Mesure Judiciaire d’Investigation Éducative) implements judicial educational investigation measures in the context of educational assistance and juvenile delinquency proceedings. More specifically, its purpose is to provide the judge with information about the personality, education and living conditions of the minor, as well as their family context. It can be implemented by the public youth protection services (PJJ) as well as by services run by non-profit organisations, provided that they are authorised and empowered to do so.
Ad hoc administration service (AAH)
An AAH (service d’Administration Ad Hoc) carries out a judicial mission, ordered by judges (examining magistrate, guardianship judge, children’s judge, council chamber, High Court) or trial courts (criminal court). It involves combining legal representation of the minor (in the absence or inadequacy of defence of their interests by their legal representatives), with support ensuring the child, their voice and their rights are respected, and an educational component where information on the progress of the proceedings is explained, while listening to the child’s questions and feelings.
Maternity centre
A Maternity Centre takes in pregnant women from the seventh month of pregnancy and/or mothers with one or more children under the age of three, within the official Child Welfare system. The facility has a capacity of 20 residents with one or more children. The families are housed in shared flats to create a sense of mutual solidarity, and the service is attached to a nursery for young children.
Penal reparation service
The Penal reparation service is an open educational service that provides support and follow-up for minors who have committed a delinquent act.
Education and work integration services
The education and vocational integration services offer daytime educational support to young people who have broken away from their plans or are on the verge of breaking away from mainstream services. This breakdown is multi-faceted: academic, but also family-related, social, moral, etc. These services make a direct contribution to the public missions of Child Welfare, i.e. to provide material, educational and psychological support to minors or young adults facing difficulties that are likely to endanger their health, safety or morals, or seriously compromise their education or physical, emotional, intellectual and social development.
Our other schemes
Parenthood support
At Groupe SOS, we are convinced that parenthood support programmes are essential, both to prevent danger or the risk of danger, and to prevent it from happening in the future. Indeed, when there is danger or a risk of danger, parenthood support enables parents to take responsibilities into their own hands by providing ongoing assistance.
Young adults
Young adults leaving the Child Welfare system (ASE) are offered short, ill-adapted forms of support, based on an injunction to achieve autonomy too quickly and without taking account their educational needs after the age of 18. In response to this challenge, many Groupe SOS facilities offer support for young adults leaving the Child Welfare system, to help them become truly independent.
Children with disabilities
Our approach puts the child before their disability. Our support focuses on the child’s overall well-being and fulfilment, as well as that of his or her family and friends. We support the development of children and young people and promote their cultural, social and professional openness to enable them to achieve greater autonomy and integration, in accordance with their individual abilities.