Lone foreign minors: 18,000 in facilities. Funds slow

On the accommodation of unaccompanied foreign minors, delays in state reimbursements and insufficient places put municipalities in difficulty. There are 18,038 minors (as of 31 October) in dedicated facilities. They are, for the most part, male 16-17 year olds. The female quota is in fact 12% but is the most vulnerable because many girls, before arriving in Italy, were victims of torture or violence. The data on admissions, updated monthly by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, concern only minors hosted in the reception system facilities or with families. Then there are those who have left voluntarily from the centres and who only partly re-enter the reception system, perhaps in other places in the country.

In recent weeks, the government has pledged to reimburse municipalities for all reception costs incurred in 2023 (80 million), 2024 (120 million) and 2025. The issue had exploded this summer when mayors had raised the alarm over a 200 million 'hole' that was putting local authorities in serious difficulty. However, other knots remain to be unravelled, starting with the insufficiency of places and the uneven distribution across the country.

In 2024, the 5,977 places in the Sai centres (the reception and integration system managed by the municipalities, which guarantees not only board and lodging but also school and work training), accommodated 9,510 minors: during the year, several minors can use the same place, due to exits due to coming of age or voluntary departure. Last March, the Ministry of the Interior gave the go-ahead for the funding of an additional 1,000 Sai places, but the number remains inadequate compared to the number of admissions. Many minors remain, therefore, in first reception facilities (including the Cas, extraordinary reception centres, managed by the Ministry of the Interior) that often do not provide additional services to food and accommodation. The minors should, in fact, stay there for limited periods and then be transferred to second reception facilities.

As of 30 June, 16% of the children were in first reception centres, including temporary mixed facilities, which also house adults. 63% were in second reception facilities (in addition to Sai centres, there are also educational communities), while 21% were with families (mainly Ukrainians). There is also often a lack offirst reception places and the municipalities are called upon to make up for this difficulty.

"Often," says Leonardo Arcidiacono, head of the minors area of the Catania municipality, "we are asked to host minors in first reception following night tracing, but we do not have the structures. We have to place them in Sai centres, where, however, the children present have already started integration processes and new arrivals create problems. Today in the Sai centres we host 285 young people, including minors and young people over 18, who have been granted administrative continuation, that is, the possibility of staying for some time".