Between 2021 and 2022, in Emilia-Romagna, the minor population in the care of Social Services increased by 11.6%, while there was a 4.7% drop in minors placed ‘outside the family’ and hospitalizations increased hospital – 818 in 2022 – in child neuropsychiatry departments. This is what emerges from the report on the activity carried out in 2023 that Claudia Giudici, regional guarantor for children and adolescents, illustrated during the joint session of the Culture and Equality commissions in the Legislative Assembly.
The theme of the so-called ‘social retreat’ is of particular relevance: «according to the first trends emerging from the survey launched in June 2023 – observes the regional guarantor – there are 762 reports collected by the services, with a greater peak in the 15-16 year age group (38, 3%) but with a significant start starting from the age of 12″. In particular, it is highlighted “in 44% of cases, the minor no longer attends school (243 are of compulsory school age), while 55% have maintained relationships with the school”. Looking at other behaviors, what emerged «is a pervasive digital use differentiated between males (video games) and females (social media) while the prevalent disorder, in 33.5% of cases, is anxiety, followed by depression in 16%» .
Other areas on which the Guarantor worked in 2023 were reporting to institutions; the reception of unaccompanied foreign minors and the promotion of participation through the Boys and Girls Assembly.
In terms of reports, 61 were processed, of which 40 were received in 2023 and 21 in 2022: the most represented area was the Bologna area, with 67.5% of the reports followed by the province of Piacenza and Parma (7.5 %), that of Reggio-Emilia (5%) and Modena and Forlì-Cesena (2.5%), for a total of 29 minors involved. As for the reception of unaccompanied foreign minors as of 31 December last there were 1,922, 8.2% of the national total, those registered in Emilia-Romagna. Of the minors welcomed, 81.2% are male and 18.8% female while the Ukrainian nationality, with 34.6%, is the most represented.
