So many children in Austria have no health insurance

"This means a fundamental children's right is not guaranteed and inequality is exacerbated," said the Vienna Child and Youth Advocate Sebastian Öhner. He called for this gap to be closed by automatically including this group, particularly threatened by child poverty, in health insurance by regulation, similar to what was done for refugees from Ukraine at the time.

2,200 Children in Vienna Placed in Care

In principle, the KIJA demands more commitment to the observance of children's rights and mandatory protection concepts, with Öhner suggesting increased involvement of children and adolescents in the development of such concepts. The number of children placed in care in Vienna has recently risen significantly to over 2,200. "The crisis centers are almost always overcrowded," reported Peter Sato, Ombudsman for Children and Adolescents in Crisis Centers.

Facilities designed for eight individuals sometimes have to care for ten to twelve children and adolescents. The composition of the groups is also sometimes problematic. When kindergarten-aged children end up under one roof with 15-year-olds "who have just been released from pre-trial detention, it creates problems that the system cannot handle well," Sato noted. Children and adolescents repeatedly report that they do not feel safe in crisis centers and have no retreat options.

(APA/Red)

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