“Austerity Hits Children”

Family support workers issue warning following tragedy involving seven-year-old

The seven-year-old is being treated at the Children’s Hospital in Innsbruck, and social services are now issuing a call for help.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer / Kronenzeitung)

Following the horrific neglect of a seven-year-old girl in Tyrol, the director of a family support center is warning against the austerity measures already underway. “Prevention must not suffer,” she urges in light of the cuts to service hours. Many questions remain unanswered regarding this shocking case.

Teenage drug deaths, early criminality, or now the horrific case of the gross neglect of a seven-year-old in the Tyrolean Oberland—here, families need outside support.

Isabel Genelin is the managing director of Familiaris GmbH, which provides mobile intensive support for families. The organization acts as a so-called service provider on behalf of the state’s child and youth welfare services. “Cuts to the system are making it increasingly difficult to provide support,” she says, using the shocking case as an opportunity to issue a call for help.

Approved weekly hours reduced, in some cases significantly
And she cites an example: “The approved weekly hours for one family were in some cases significantly reduced.” The state government decided in the two-year budget to make cuts here. “We protested this and drew attention to the negative consequences,” says Genelin. Because a lack of preventive work will also increase follow-up costs—for example, when unresolved problems in families lead to children being placed in foster care.

How much more needs to happen before those in charge finally realize that the consequences only become apparent when it’s already too late?

Isabel Genelin

Bild: zVg

Genelin highlights the importance of intensive support: it reduces juvenile crime, uncovers domestic violence and abuse, supports overwhelmed parents in their daily lives, and helps with mental health issues. The head of Familiaris also points out that the consequences of budget cuts only become apparent once it is already too late. “In the end, it is usually the most vulnerable members of our society—the children—who suffer.”

Tyrol’s Social Affairs Minister Eva Pawlata (SPÖ) considers the criticism unfounded: “We haven’t cut back on child and youth services; quite the opposite. When hours are reduced for a family, it’s always a professional decision.”

Many questions in the case of the neglected child
Meanwhile, the investigation into the gross neglect of the seven-year-old from the Tyrolean Oberland continues. Many questions remain unanswered, many of which are also being asked by users on krone.at. How could it have come to this? Did really no one else know about the girl’s suffering? Where were the grandparents, friends, acquaintances, neighbors? The parents remain in pretrial detention at least until the next detention review in two weeks.