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What
is kija?
Contact information office
size, structure and history, aims and current activities
LEGISLATION
Section 13 Jugendwohlfahrtsordnung
(1) The State
Government shall establish an Office of the Ombudsperson for Children
and Youths. It shall consist of the Ombudsperson for Children and
Youths, who shall head the office, and the required number of staff.
(2) The State Government shall appoint the Ombudsperson for Children
and Youths for a term of five years in a procedure involving open
application and a public hearing of the candidates by the Youth
Welfare Board. The Board shall inform the State Government about
the result of the hearing and may submit proposals regarding the
appointment. The appointment of an Ombudsperson for Children and
Youths shall be announced in the Salzburger Landes-Zeitung.
(2a) The State Government may re-appoint the Ombudsperson for Children
and Youths for another term of five years following the hearing
of the Youth Welfare Board. The re-appointment shall be announced
in the Salzburger Landes-Zeitung.
(3) Only persons with appropriate training and practical experience
meeting the requirements established in collaboration with the Youth
Welfare Board shall be eligible for the position of the Ombudsman
for Children and Youths. He/she must not pursue activities that
are inconsistent with the obligations of the position or are likely
to create the impression of partiality.
(4) (Constitutional Provision) The Ombudsperson for Children and
Youths shall not be subject to directives in his/her work. His/her
subordinate staff shall be exclusively bound by his/her instructions.
(5) The State shall provide the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children
and Youths with the means required for the orderly and effective
performance of its work. The Ombudsperson has the right to be consulted
in the selection of the office’s staff.
(6) The term of office of the Ombudsperson for Children and Youths
ends when his/her renunciation becomes effective or by premature
termination. The appointment shall be revoked if the requirements
for the appointment were not met or no longer exist. The revocation
shall be announced in the Salzburger Landes-Zeitung.
Terms of
reference
Section 14 Jugendwohlfahrtsordnung
Role and Powers of the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children and
Youths
(1) It is the role of the Office of the Ombudsperson for
Children and Youth to represent the rights and interests of
minors. In this function the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children
and Youths shall in particular:
(a) advise
and support minors, parents, legal guardians and legal representatives
in all matters regarding the situation of the minor and the role
of the parents or legal guardians;
(b) assist
and advise in case of disagreements and disputes between the children
and youths concerned and parents, legal guardians as well as public
and private youth welfare institutions regarding the care and education
of minors;
(c) register
complaints with courts, administrative agencies, and other institutions
in the interest of minors;
(d) represent
the rights, interests, needs and concerns of minors in public;
(e) promote the
cooperation of youth welfare institutions with the relevant branches
of science, suggest or conduct special studies and participate in
research projects for the improvement of living conditions of minors;
(f) collaborate
with the Youth Welfare Board;
(g) assist in
the preparation of the Salzburg contribution to the report according
to Art 44 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (BGBl No
7/1993);
(h) collaborate
in the appraisal of pertinent drafts of bills and by-laws as well
as drafts of Community law;
(i) make recommendations
according to Article 3 lit d.
The tasks specified
in (a) to (c) above shall be carried out in collaboration with the
respective counseling institutions, with the aim of reaching amicable
solutions.
(2) The Office
of the Ombudsperson for Children and Youth shall submit an annual
report on its activities and thereby collected experiences to the
State Government. This report may also contain conclusions and recommendations.
If the Ombudsperson identified shortcomings in state agencies, other
institutions controlled by the state or private youth welfare institutions,
the State Government shall submit the respective parts of the report
to the agency concerned for a statement. The State Government shall
submit the annual report to the Youth Welfare Board and to the Provincial
Parliament.
(3) The Office
of the Ombudsperson for Children and Youth has the following powers:
(a) Based on
this law, on the Salzburger Tagesbetreuungsgesetz, or on the basis
of provincial regulations in the following matters it is entitled
to demand the status of a party in administrative proceedings (Section
8 AVG), to the extent necessary for fulfilling its functions:
1. the construction
and substantial alteration of buildings predominantly used or to
be used by a large number of children or youths, e.g. homes for
children and youths;
2. the construction
or expansion of a private kindergarten;
3. the construction,
operation or substantial alteration of hospitals.
(b) It is entitled
to demand access to files (Section 17 AVG) and to be summoned to
take part in hearings in all other administrative proceedings to
be carried out under provincial law and concerning the interests
of children and youths, to the extent necessary for fulfilling its
functions;
(c) It is entitled
to demand access to all data, information and documents of provincial
and municipal administrations not concerning a particular administrative
proceeding and whose consultation and evaluation is necessary for
fulfilling its functions;
(d) It is entitled to approach all governmental units with regard
to recommendations for child-adequate practices and suggestions
to improve the general living conditions and development potential
of children and youths.
Provincial and municipal agencies, as well as private youth welfare
institutions are obliged to comply with the advice given to them
by the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children and Youths within
a period of eight weeks or otherwise to provide a written explanation
as to why they did not to follow the recommendations.
(4) All provincial and municipal agencies are obliged to provide
the support and information necessary for the Office of the Ombudsperson
for Children and Youths to carry out its work.
(5) The Office of the Ombudsperson for Children and Youths is absolved
from the duty to report an offence according to Section 84 of the
Code on Criminal Procedure committed by minors, parents or legal
guardians, if the report would endanger the success of its work
in the respective individual case, and provided prosecution is not
in the obvious interest of the public.
CONTACT
INFORMATION
Name of Office (In National Language): Kinder- und Jugendanwaltschaft
Salzburg (kija)
Name of Office (In English): Ombudsoffice for Children and Youths,
Salzburg
Postal Address: Kinder- und Jugendanwaltschaft Salzburg,Strubergasse
4, A-5020 Salzburg
Visiting Address: see above
Telephone: +43 662 430550, +43 662 8042 - 3031 or 3032
Fax: +43 662 430590
Email address: kija.sbg@kija.at, kija@salzburg.gv.at
WWW: http://www.kija.at/sbg
Title of Ombudsman: Kinder- und Jugendanwältin (Leiterin)
Name of Ombudsman: Dr. Andrea Holz-Dahrenstaedt
Name of contact person for ENOC: Dr. Andrea Holz-Dahrenstaedt
Principal sources
of funding: Province of Salzburg
HISTORY
OF THE OFFICE
Date the office was established December 1st, 1993
Initiator of
the Ombudsman office
The Jugendwohlfahrtsgesetz 1989 “planted the seed” and
was followed by the Jugendwohlfahrtsordnung 1992, passed by the
legislature of the Province of Salzburg, which provided the legal
foundation for the office.
AIMS
AND CURRENT ACTIVITIES
Services provided to children and youths
– Individual casework
– Personal consultations
– Telephone hotline
– Community meetings with groups of children and youths
– Internet or other computer technology
– School visits
Activities the
office undertakes
– Celebration of the International Day of the Child (Weltkindertag)
– Influencing policy development at a national, provincial
and municipal level
– Collection of data related to children and youths
– Monitoring the impact of laws/policies on children and youths
– Monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child
– Education/raising of awareness concerning children’s
rights
– Training of professionals or other groups on children’s
rights
– Training of professionals or other groups on prevention
of maltreatment and sexual abuse
Areas
of greatest experience
– The judicial system
– Social services
Ongoing
themes
– Non -Discrimination
– Children’s and youth’s participation
– Protection from harmful information
– Sexual exploitation
– Disabled children
– Education
– Juvenile justice
– Refugee children
– Problems when becoming independent
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