For the first time in France, justice has condemned the State to pay 240,000 euros in damages to seven families of autistic children, recognizing deficiencies in the care.
This is a first in France. The Paris administrative court ordered the state to pay more than 220,000 euros in damages to seven families of autistic children. Justice pointed to shortcomings in the care of these children, which harmed families.
Removal, professional renunciation
Thus, two families were forced to send their child to Belgium so that it could be educated in suitable structures, due to a lack of space in France. Other parents have had to quit their jobs to care for their children. In all of these cases, the court ruled that there had been “moral prejudice”, either linked to the removal of the child, or to the sacrifice of the parents.
The complaints were brought by the association Vaincre l’Autisme. The first requests were filed in September 2014, in order to demonstrate “the responsibility of the State at the origin of situations of intolerable inequalities”. In decisions dated July 15 and revealed by AFP, the body condemned the State to damages ranging from 13,164 euros to 70,000 euros, divided between the children and their parents.
These decisions “serve as a new case law on the prejudices suffered by autistic people exiled in Belgium”, commented Vaincre Autisme, concerning the first two cases. The association also welcomes the “first” that constitute the other decisions, which recognize the professional renunciation of the parents and compensate the costs of accompaniment ABA (“Applied Behavior Analysis”), an expensive American method.
New complaints
In addition, “14 additional complaints” of families of autistic children “are before the administrative court of Paris, assures the association, quoted by AFP. Beyond autism, this case law risks being extended to disabled and / or elderly people exiled abroad for lack of structures in France, ”she predicts.
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