In France, 400,000 children and young adults depend on the child protection system, known as the Aide Sociale à l’Enfance, or ASE. As FRANCE 24's Natacha Vesnitch and Claire Paccalin report, this institution is supposed to protect them, but its failures sometimes put them in danger. Lack of placements, separation of siblings, unsuitable structures, absence of psychological support, mistreatment – the list of shortcomings within the system is long. A parliamentary commission of inquiry presented its conclusions on April 8, after months of work investigating a system undermined by dysfunction and neglect.

Maëva is 23 years old. She was 16 when she was placed in the ASE, France's child protection system. Mistreated by her mother, she asked to be placed in care. Originally from the Lille region, she was sent several hundred kilometres away to the department of La Creuse. She didn't know it then, but she was among 60 children who were placed in a network of unlicensed foster families. The two men running the network were sentenced in December 2024 during a trial in Châteauroux to several years in prison for multiple acts of violence and undeclared work. 

Seven years after her ordeal, Maëva has strong memories of arriving in the foster family. "Due to lack of space, I was told to stay in the caravan," she recounts. "It was filthy inside, and I had to relieve myself behind the caravan because at night, they locked the house." 

'ASE was the biggest problem of my life'

During this placement, Maëva was not enrolled in school. She heard little from her ASE caseworker, and weeks passed until the day the teenager decided to run away. "Bruno came to have a go at me in the caravan because I was talking too much and he wanted to take away my phone. He hit me hard and I fell. Then I locked myself in the caravan. I waited a few hours, packed some belongings and ran away."

This time, Maëva had no intention of turning to the ASE system. She decided to manage on her own. It was the start of a downward spiral. "I destroyed myself," Maëva recounts. "Luckily, I woke up after four years, because many girls who do that end up badly."

Today, Maëva believes that her time with the ASE left indelible marks. "ASE was the biggest problem of my life," the young woman concludes.

Court-ordered placements not carried out

Since 1983, child protection services have been managed by departments that are supposed to immediately implement protection measures ordered by judges. But in 2023, according to the Magistrates' Union, at least 3,300 court-ordered placements were not executed by the ASE.

In Nantes, the Family Court Judge Marie Le Verre estimates that about 30 of her orders remain unenforced at any given time. This situation can have serious consequences, according to her. "The risk", she explains, "is that these children no longer respect the society that did not protect them."

'Child protection in France is abusive. It can even be deadly'

Lack of placements, separation of siblings, unsuitable structures, absence of psychological support, mistreatment, lack of oversight of placement locations – the list of failures within French child protection is long.

Olivier Treneul is a social worker in the Nord department. He campaigns daily within the SUD trade union for the department to invest more resources in child protection. "Child protection is abusive, and that's why our colleagues are suffering," explains the union spokesman. "Child protection can even be deadly: we have examples all over France of young people who died in ASE care. There are stories in hotels, like young Lily who committed suicide in January 2024. The child protection system is not just failing, it's at breaking point, not because we don't know how to do our jobs – we do know. It's because the system was not prioritised."

One in four homeless people born in France were in care as a child

This view is shared by many child protection professionals. Hamza Bensatem is a former foster child. He himself was a victim of abuse in the homes where he was placed. Today, he is director of Adepape 13, an association that helps young people leaving the child protection system. He regularly organises meetings with young adults who are worried about their future. And for good reason: since 2022, the law provides support for young adults formerly placed in ASE care, but in reality, many end up on the street. One in four homeless people born in France were in care as a child.