A 10-year-old is keeping the community of Pasching on edge with acts of vandalism. A 14-year-old is now in prison after committing around 200 crimes. And another 14-year-old has to answer to the court in Linz after various acts of violence. Such “serious cases” have noticeably increased, said Theresia Schlöglmann, head of the Upper Austrian Child and Youth Services, on Thursday in Linz. “Five or ten years ago, the measures were still sufficient, today more is needed. The cases are becoming more complex and serious.”
Currently, 1,500 children under the age of 18 are being cared for by foster parents or in social-educational institutions in Upper Austria. Among them are 25 children who are younger than 14 and fall into the category of “system breakers”. Most of them because they are particularly dangerous.
Debate about night curfew
Due to the increase in extreme cases, the responsible state councilor Michael Lindner (SP) and the KJH have set up a working group – with the aim of expanding the care of so-called “problem children”. On Thursday, Lindner presented the planned steps together with Schlöglmann and psychologist Michaela Mayer.
There were renewed calls for legal options to set limits for problem children. For example, the state council could imagine restrictions on leaving the facility. So far, the carers are not allowed to detain the children or lock them up in the facility. This demand is not new: State Police Director Andreas Pilsl has also already said that there needs to be a way to ensure that “delinquent children are not allowed to leave the house at night”.
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Image: State of Upper Austria/Denise Stinglmayr
Source: Nachrichten
