France – Three new homes for minors in Gironde opened by Gradignan’s Don Bosco Institute

03 August 2022
Photo ©: MECS Langon

(ANS - Gradignan) - The Salesian center "Institut Don Bosco," based in Gradignan, animates and coordinates homes and services scattered throughout the New Aquitaine region in southwest France. A total of 47 facilities and centers of the Salesian institute welcome and help several thousand children, adolescents, and adults in need each year. Recently, the institution took a new step forward in developing its mission by opening three houses for minors with a social character (MECS, in French).

The mission of a MECS is to provide a safe and caring environment for children in the care of Children's Social Aid (ASE) services. The Don Bosco Institute for Youth and Education opened three such centers in response to a call for similar projects from the Gironde Department Council.

These three facilities, located in Langon, Saint-André de Cubzac, and Castelnau-de-Médoc, accommodate children and adolescents from ages 3 to 18, and up to 21 for the most vulnerable youth, for a total of about 100 places.

Specifically, the MECS in Langon houses 40 children, with modalities of internship, modulated internship, foster care, and various types of housing for older adolescents; while the one in Saint André de Cubzac houses 32 youth, as does the one in Castelnau-de-Médoc.

A special feature of each of these MECS is that eight young people in so-called "complex" situations can be accommodated and supported; these are children and adolescents who may present various vulnerabilities, such as a disability, a behavioral disorder... and who need adequate support to grow and develop in the best possible conditions.

The "Institut Don Bosco," which has been present in New Aquitaine for more than 160 years, continues and will continue to help children and adolescents to grow with dignity and develop in fullness, according to the teachings of the Founder of the Salesian Congregation, Don Bosco. In particular, the "Institut Don Bosco," which is part of the "Don Bosco Action Sociale" network of the "St. Francis de Sales" Province of France-Southern Belgium (FRB), runs reception centers for migrant minors and medical-educational institutes.

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ANS - “Agenzia iNfo Salesiana” is a on-line almost daily publication, the communication agency of the Salesian Congregation enrolled in the Press Register of the Tibunal of Rome as n 153/2007.

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