• In Rennes, part of the staff of the children's center has been on strike for several days.
  • The supervisors denounce a lack of places that compromises the reception of these children awaiting placement that the justice considers "in danger".
  • The department of Ille-et-Vilaine, which finances the establishment, explains that it has increased its budget but is facing a crisis of the entire sector.

Banners hanging on a fence alert the few motorists and pedestrians who pass by. "Emergency reception in danger," reads the fence of the Henri-Fréville children's center in Chantepie, near Rennes. This large white sheet made by the staff welcoming children waiting for placement sounds like a great cry of alarm. For the first time in fifty years of existence, the employees of the child protection structure have begun a strike movement. Proof, according to them, "of the urgency of the situation".

Just over 600 children are welcomed here each year. Children whom the justice system has deemed "in danger" and ordered to be placed on an emergency basis. "We are sorely lacking places. The problem is that we have no way out for them. The average stay with us is four, five or six months. But we have children who have been there for two years, because they have no place elsewhere, "says an educator at the children's center.

Beds in bathrooms

Financed by the departmental council of Ille-et-Vilaine, the structure has no choice but to accommodate these minors. But under what conditions? "Sometimes we have to install mattresses in bathrooms or in the living room," says this educator. A former disused official housing has also been used as a reception home for several months, for lack of anything better. The department of Ille-et-Vilaine, which finances the establishment, has increased its budget by 11% in 2023 to cope with the situation. "This is a real crisis. We can't absorb the flow," admits Anne-Françoise Courteille. The vice-president of the department was struck by the daily life of the nursery that welcomes children from 0 to 3 years old. With 20 places, the structure currently accommodates 24 children. "Some are doing very badly and suffer from the addictive behaviors of parents. These are complicated situations to manage, which require health monitoring."



The socialist elected representative promised that an early childhood structure would open on January 1, 2024 to relieve the nursery. Family assistants who take in minors are also called upon but with caution. "We have to be careful not to exhaust them." To improve the care of children, Anne-Françoise Courteille would like the State to make child protection a major national cause. "It's a taboo subject but there are children to protect because there are families who are not doing well." Since the health crisis, the number of requests for child placements has steadily increased in France. In Ille-et-Vilaine, 250 to 300 children are kept at home due to a lack of available places.

  • Rennes
  • Ille-et-Vilaine
  • Brittany
  • Child
  • Child protection
  • Minor
  • Domestic violence
  • Strike
  • Society
  • Social