[The placement courses and the subjective quality of life of 6- to 11-year-old children living in child welfare institutions]. / Les parcours de placement et la qualité de vie des enfants de 6 à 11ans accueillis dans des institutions relevant de la protection de l'enfance.

BACKGROUND: Besides diseases, the concept of quality of life is increasingly used to account for the consequences of other vulnerability situations that may be encountered by individuals, including young children. However, very few studies have examined children's perception of their quality of life in the context of child welfare and protection, and they yielded mixed results. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were (1) to compare the subjective quality of life of children placed in institution with that of children living in their families, by controlling for child sex, age, socioeconomic and familial status, and (2) to examine its relations with their placement course in the child welfare system. METHOD: The sample of this study was composed of 56 children aged 6 to 11, 28 of which were placed in a child welfare institution. Information about the placement course of institutionalized children was given by their social workers and the quality of life of all participants was assessed with the AUQUEI questionnaire. This self-report, which is based on children's conception of their quality of life, allows assessment of four distinct dimensions in addition to the overall score: leisure, performances, relations and family life, and separation. RESULTS: According to the results, the quality of life of children placed in institutions did not differ from that of children living in their families. However, its perception was closely related to the placement course of institutionalized children in the child welfare system. Whereas maltreated children obtained lower overall and performance scores than their neglected peers, children placed in foster families before institution had a poorer perception of their quality of life in the domains of family life and separations. DISCUSSION: These results are interpreted in light of attachment research and theory. Indeed, the relations between children's quality of life and their placement course could be explained by their high level of attachment disorganization. Finally, the results of this study suggested that children were well aware of their difficulties and that they can easily be identified by directly assessing the children's quality of life.

[Proposals to adapt the protection of children to the realities of today]. / Propositions pour adapter la protection de l'enfance aux réalités d'aujourd'hui.

The report titled "40 propositions pour adapter la protection de l'enfance et l'adoption aux réalités d'aujourd'hui" ("Forty proposals to adapt protection of children to the realities of today") was presented in February 2014 by the "Protection de l'enfance et adoption" working group to the Minister for Family Affairs within the framework of the preparation of the French family law. The medical field is an important link in the chain of child protection. Of the 40 proposals, particular attention was paid to the identification of children at risk and to improving the protection of newborns (shaken baby syndrome, unexpected infant death) and to adoption issues.