Nearly 3000 people have been excluded from child protection and early childhood care sectors due to the October generalization of judicial background checks, announced Tuesday by High Commissioner for Childhood Sarah El Haïry. «We have already excluded 2980 people from Child Protection and early childhood care. We are checking the entire stock of professionals and volunteers», she told AFP. Over 650,000 honorability certificates have been issued.
High Commissioner for Childhood Sarah El Haïry revealed Tuesday that 2980 individuals have been excluded from child protection and early childhood care sectors following the October generalization of the honorability certificate. This document certifies the absence of convictions on the criminal record or entries in the automated judicial file of authors of sexual or violent offenses (FIJAIS) preventing work with minors. Checks continue on all professionals and volunteers, such as staff in homes, foster families, nurseries, and childminders, who must provide this document upon hiring and regularly thereafter.
«We must not be naive: where will these people go? To hospitals, to people with disabilities, to areas where control does not exist or is less effective», warned Sarah El Haïry, highlighting the risk of these profiles spreading to other vulnerable sectors. The measure was extended in December to adoption approval seekers and will be in the first half of the year to medico-educational institutes (IME) hosting disabled children.
An employer can dismiss an employee in contact with children if prohibited from working, the High Commissioner notes. However, this verification does not cover temporary or interim staff in nursery or primary schools. Recently, a series of complaints targeted school animators in Paris for sexual violence in after-school settings, including possession of child abuse images.
The Cnape, federation of 180 associations managing child protection services, expressed being «very satisfied» with this measure. «It is simple and has allowed excluding people who have been employed for a long time sometimes», its director general Pierre-Alain Sarthou told AFP. He praised the process's simplicity, with a QR code verifiable in minutes, and called for extension to the disability sector, especially for those transporting children. Among FIJAIS entry reasons is possession of child abuse images, with a significant proportion leading to acts.
