Special reception needs of vulnerable groups

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Asylkoordination Österreich Visit Website

The legislation relating to the reception of asylum seekers does not foresee a mechanism for identifying vulnerable persons with special needs. Article 2(1) GVG-B states that attention should be paid to special needs when the asylum seeker is registered in the Basic Care System. As already mentioned, asylum seekers have to undergo a mandatory health examination after having submitted the asylum application. In principle, all asylum seekers should have health insurance and they may be transferred to a hospital for necessary medical treatments.

The Basic Care laws of Lower Austria, Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg, Burgenland, Carinthia, Upper Austria mention special needs of vulnerable persons. Elderly persons, handicapped persons, pregnant women, single parents, children, victims of torture, trafficking, rape or other forms of severe psychological, physical or sexual violence are considered as vulnerable persons. In the laws of the federal province of Vienna, vulnerable asylum seekers are not mentioned. Nevertheless, the federal provinces have to respect national and international law, including the recast Reception Conditions Directive. A special monitoring mechanism is not in place. It is the responsibility of the asylum seeker, social worker, social pedagogue or the landlord to ask for adequate reception conditions from the relevant authority and service provider. Strategic litigation on the matter is very difficult due to the complexity of the legal situation.

The monthly amount of € 2,480 for nursing care in specialised facilities is included in the Basic Care Agreement between the State and the federal provinces, which describes the material reception conditions. As mentioned in the starting chapter, there has been a decision to increase the cost rate for increased care needs to € 3,360 per month, but so far no final decision at the political level.

Not all federal provinces have special care centres for vulnerable groups besides unaccompanied children. Special care needs are often determined only after an asylum seeker has been placed into a reception centre in one of the provinces. In this regard, the Burgenland Court of Auditors stated that the allocation to a specific centre was the responsibility of the social department and should be based on a departmental list of criteria, which include inter alia marital status, gender, nationality, religion and age.[1]

Reception of unaccompanied children

There are several facilities for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. While on federal level, BBU GmbH had planned to open three more facilities for UAM in 2021, which did not happen, in the province some of them are run by private companies and others by the Children and Youth Assistance. Children aged less than 14 years are provided care in socio-pedagogic institutions of the federal provinces.^[2]

In 2022, 13,276 UAM applied for asylum in Austria. In 11,659 cases the authority discontinued the case as the UAM absconded and had left Austria. Nevertheless, the number of UAM in federal reception centres grew up to 1,200 as the provinces were reluctant to take over UAM in their basic care systems. As of December 2022, 1,169 UAM were accommodated in inadequate federal reception centres for an average time of 133 days. The BBU GmbH opened up new facilities: At the end of 2022, there were 5 facilities operating on a federal level accommodating UAM.[3] At the end of 2023, 530 UAM received basic care in federal basic care, for an average time of maximum 381 days.[4]

Federal centres

There are 5 to 6 reception centres for unaccompanied children managed by the Federal Agency BBU GmbH, out of which one is a separate facility for unaccompanied children in the Federal Reception Centre EAST in Traiskirchen.^[5]

As of 31 December 2018, there were 40 unaccompanied children accommodated in special federal reception centres, while another 1,479 were accommodated in specialised facilities in the different federal provinces.^[6] As of 7 November 2019, there were 69 unaccompanied children accommodated in special federal reception centres.[7] After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the transfer to reception facilities in the provinces was massively delayed in 2020, partly due to insufficient COVID-19 test-management. This resulted in very high numbers of unaccompanied minors accommodated in large and inadequate federal facilities. In November 2020, around 240 children were accommodated in those facilities whereas in 2017 – when the number of applicants was much higher – only 91 were housed in federal centres.[8] As of 21 January 2021, there were still 200 unaccompanied children accommodated in the federal reception centres.[9] The situation deteriorated in 2021 resulting in 700 unaccompanied minors being placed in inadequate housing in federal reception facilities due to the reluctance of provinces to take over these children into basic care. This was largely motivated by the fact that the Ministry refused to increase funding for housing in the provinces. The situation continued in 2022 with 1,200 UAM accommodated in inadequate federal reception centres due to the reluctance of the provinces to take over the minors, as their accommodation cost are even higher than other asylum seekers. Unaccompanied minors are the only group for which the Ministry has not raised the financial resources for basic care at the time of writing and is still the same in 2023. Per 2 January 20024 500 UAM[10] were accommodated in federal reception centres. As mentioned in the introductory chapter, willingness to increase the maximum cost rates for vulnerable groups (including unaccompanied minors) was expressed, but no decision has yet been taken.

An important concern is that from January to September 2020, only 126 children out of 888 minor applicants were transferred from the federal system to the states. Given that only around 200 children were being accommodated in federal facilities as of January 2021, it is still unclear what happened to the other children and where they are being accommodated. The NGO asylkoordination has counted around 350 missing children between January and September 2020,[11] whereas 228 missing children with non-EU-citizenship were registered in the SIS II, of whom 61 were under 14 years old.[12] The situation has deteriorated in 2021: 4,489 minors have gone missing after applying for asylum in Austria. This represents 78 % of all applications of minors in 2021. The Ministry of Interior stated that these minors went on to other European countries but has not presented further proof.[13] In 2022 and 2023, this worsened: around 95% (2022: 88.5%) of the UAM who applied for asylum absconded.[14]

Reception of unaccompanied children at federal province level

The Child and Youth Agency is responsible for providing adequate guidance and care to these children. BBU GmbH is responsible in providing legal counselling and representation of the minors in their asylum procedure. However, it is unclear who is responsible for their guardianship during the admissibility procedure or during their stay in the reception centre, or for any other legal issue that may rise. It can be either a legal adviser acting as legal representative in the initial reception centre, or the Child and Youth Agency, which becomes responsible after the child is allocated to a federal province. An answer to a parliamentary request in December 2019 showed that half of the unaccompanied children disappeared after lodging an asylum application during the admissibility procedure.[15] Media reports raised important attention to the fact that no authority is appointed as legal guardian for unaccompanied minors during the admissibility procedure.[16] The government programme issued in January 2020 includes a plan to better ensure the protection of unaccompanied minors in the admissibility procedure,[17] but this was still not implemented as of March 2023 and is not likely to happen before the next general elections in 2024.

Basic Care provision for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children reflect the need of care with regard to accommodation and psychosocial care. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children must be hosted according to their need for guidance and care. The daily fee for NGOs hosting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children ranges from € 40 to € 95 depending on the services provided. Additional support may be provided by the Child and Youth Agency of the federal province. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are placed in three different groups depending on their needs. Accordingly, a social worker will be in charge of groups varying from maximum 10, 15 or 20 children depending on their needs (the higher the needs, the smaller the group).

The Ministry of Interior and the competent department of the federal provinces have agreed on a quota system for unaccompanied children.^[18]

The number of unaccompanied children, including asylum seekers, rejected asylum seekers and persons with a protection status, receiving Basic Care on 31 December 2023 was as follows:

Source: Ministry of Interior, GVS Statistics 2 January 2024 (unpublished).

In some cases the transfer of an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child from the initial reception centre to Basic Care facilities of the federal provinces takes place randomly, without knowing what the specific needs of the child are.[19]

Numerous facilities set up after 2015 have been phased out after the number of unaccompanied children arriving in Austria dropped. This decrease was also noted in 2019 and facilities have been closed accordingly. In 2020, facilities of the NGO Volkshilfe in Upper Austria have closed leaving few specialised accommodations. The type of facilities available in the different provinces varies from one province to another:[20]

Carinthia, Tyrol and Burgenland only offer accommodation in residential groups.

Lower Austria and Upper Austria generally offer accommodation in residential groups, subject to a few exceptions. The daily rate of €95 for unaccompanied minors residential groups applies in Upper Austria only for groups of up to 20 people.^[21] Larger facilities receive a daily rate of €88. This amount should also cover the legal representation of the minors.

Salzburg: Children over the age of 14 are first housed in residential groups but may be assigned to other types of accommodation if deemed necessary by the care provider.

Vienna: Since 2015, only residential groups have been opened. There are still a few places for unaccompanied children with a lower level of care, however.

Styria: Styria has no residential groups for unaccompanied children. All children over the age of 14 are accommodated in dormitories or in assisted living. The situation in Styria is criticised by the Ombudsman, who recommends the establishment of residential groups in the future.

Some of the Basic care laws of certain federal provinces provide that social educational and psychological care for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children should stabilise their psychic condition and create trust.[22] Furthermore daily-organised activities (e.g. education, sport, group activities, and homework) and psychosocial support are foreseen, taking into account the age, identity, origin and residence of family members, perspective for the future and integration measures.

A report on the situation of accompanied children in Austria published in 2019 by asylkoordination and UNICEF showed that accompanied children face – to a large extent – the same problems as those faced by unaccompanied minors. Moreover, some specific problematic issues have been identified; such as inadequate housing situations (due to often small accommodation places for large families) or role that children play as translators for their parents in certain situations etc.[23]

The report further criticises the lack of staff in many institutions and the lack of qualified staff, especially regarding pedagogical care that is needed to deal with an emerging risk of radicalisation and to deal with persons with psychic issues. Also, the Ombudsman described a shared apartment that it had visited as being incompatible with pedagogical standards and qualified it as a humiliating treatment. The shared flat was closed shortly after the Commission’s visit and the young persons living there were transferred. In that regard, other basic care facilities were visited by the commissions and considered as impersonal, empty and/or cramped. Dorm rooms were sometimes so small that no retreat or visit opportunities existed and the environment was not adequate for learning. Therefore, minors were sometimes found in a neglected state. As follow-up visits demonstrated, many issues were corrected after the NPM’s intervention. It was noted that a new system called “New authority’ – “Neue Autorität” – was being implemented: “Neue Autorität” is a systemic approach that strengthens managers, educators and parents. It enhances a respectful culture of relationships and encourages development processes. This also led to a better integration of the children into local communities.[24]

Regarding the access to education, the report indicates that – apart from the minors that are enrolled in schools and attend lessons – young persons do not receive adequate training or further education everywhere. German courses are offered in some regions only once or twice a week and language remains an important barrier. This situation persisted throughout 2020 and was aggravated by the Covid-19-pandemic. An expert council on Integration of the Federal chancellery stated in August 2020, that the Covid-19-crisis deepens integration problems of migrants. According to the expert Council, children with a migrant background faced important obstacles and difficulties to cope with the new learning process resulting from home schooling.[25] 

Aged-out children

A few places are available for children who have reached the age of 18 and who need higher care compared to adults. This possibility corresponds to youth welfare regulations, stating that under special circumstances the Child and Youth Agency will take responsibility for young adults up to the age of 21.[26]

The Ombudsman observed that the situation of children aged more than 18 years old can be particularly precarious if they have to leave the unaccompanied minors’ homes although they are not sufficiently prepared to an independent life.[27]

Some NGOs in Vienna (Don Bosco Sozialwerk, SOS Kinderdorf, Caritas) and Lower Austria (e.g. NGO tralalobe) offer so-called ‘after-care places’ for children asylum seekers who have come of age during their stay in facilities, in so-called mobile supervised flats where social workers come 1-3 times a week to provide counselling and support. However, aftercare for young adults in basic care is funded at the same daily rate as for adults, even if young adults require more care in most cases. In Upper Austria, the NGO Volkshilfe has tried several times to point out the needs of young adults and has also presented concepts, but they have always been rejected by the authorities.[28]

For 2022, there is a temporary increased daily rate foreseen in Vienna for young adults who have only been in Austria for a few months, as young men, all 17 ½ years old, came to a large institution in Vienna in December 2021. Many of them will reach their majority in 2022 and will be transferred from the minor- facility to an adult facility. The City of Vienna has recognised that this group in particular requires more care and has therefore offered a temporary increased daily rate for NGOs responsible for providing support to these young men.[29]

Children with special needs

Information gathered by asylkoordination in the fall of 2016, demonstrated that 10.6% of accommodated children needed medication ordered by a psychiatrist. It indicated that some suffered from depression, suicidal thoughts and mental disorders. A further 9% were suspected to be suffering from a mental illness, although there was no diagnostic yet as most of them refused to undergo an investigation – out of fear of being stigmatised or due to delays in the assessments. Another 5% were in therapy and were not taking medication. According to the caregivers, about 15% were in urgent need of therapy. 8% were further moved to another facility due to their behaviour (threats, violence against staff or other residents), but in one third of the cases the behavioural problems did not improve.^[30]

The Ombudsman has criticised Lower Austria for not providing additional funding for children with mental illness. The federal province responded that the higher daily rate of €95 paid for Basic Care since July 2016 should cover any additional costs. Following criticism from the Ombudsman, the province of Styria has introduced a supplementary package of € 18 from July 2018 onwards for unaccompanied children with special care needs. This brings the daily rate in Styria to € 95.^[31] NGOs from Styria reported that families with severely ill children were not placed in reception facilities for persons with special needs, on the grounds that their parents should have enough resources to take care for them.

Reception of women and families

Special facilities exist in some of the federal provinces to welcome single women and mothers. In the initial reception centre of Traiskirchen, for example, single women are accommodated in a separate building. The minimum standards (chapters 6 and 7) for the accommodation of asylum seekers stipulate that women with children must be accommodated in separate rooms and  bathrooms and toilets must be physically separated for men and women.[32]

Some specialised reception facilities for single women are run by NGOs.[33] In bigger facilities, separated rooms or floors are reserved for single women or families. The protection of family life for core family members is laid down in the law of the federal provinces.^[34] As regards family members who arrived through a Family Reunification scheme and receive Basic Care as asylum seekers, there is no satisfactory solution in practice in case with the holder of the refugee status does not have a suitable private flat. The family may be separated until the status is granted, because recognised refugees can no longer live in the Basic Care centre. It is also problematic that provinces such as Styria refrain from granting any basic care to asylum seekers in the family reunification process.

There are only a few reception facilities with more than 80 or 100 places, while most of the other larger facilities are run by NGOs in Vienna. In Tyrol, there are two facilities with up to 300 places. Hostels and inns have between 20 and 40 places. As a consequence, single women are not always separated from single men, e.g. separate floor, but the rooms are separate and there are separate toilets and showers. Vienna also has centres for victims of trafficking and LGBTIQ persons. Similarly, Tyrol, Lower Austria and Salzburg also has a reception centre for single women and single parents, and one for LGBTIQ persons.

Reception of handicapped and seriously ill persons

Federal centres

Some places in facilities of the state or run by NGOs are reserved for traumatised or ill asylum seekers (“Sonderbetreuungsbedarf”). In the last years, the number of places for asylum seekers with disabilities or other special needs of care increased. There is one special care centre for people in need of special medical care at the federal level:

• The special care centre is located in Graz Andritz and has a maximum capacity of 120 persons;
• the centre in Gallspach with a capacity of 110 persons has been closed beginning of 2019.

In addition, where necessary, persons with special needs are accommodated in separate rooms or houses in the Federal Reception Centre in Traiskirchen during the admissibility procedure.^[35] Special care centres for 25 persons in a barrier-free building (house 1) are provided in Traiskirchen.

The placement of a person in need of special care in one of the special care centres is determined on a case-by-case basis depending on the individual’s health situation.

The special care centre of Graz Andritz, for example, offers quality medical care for patients in need of both regular or special care, e.g. persons with cancer, cardiovascular diseases, epileptics, diabetics, patients in rehab etc. This is due to the optimal accessibility of the Graz Country Hospital. It has a specially equipped doctor’s station. In addition to medical staff, the care provider BBU Gmbh is responsible for the care of the asylum seekers[36].

Centres at provincial level

The criteria taken into consideration by all federal states to provide special care (Erhöhter Betreuungsbedarf – EBB) include:[37]

• severe psychiatric illness;
• at least moderate physical infirmities (e.g. paralysis);
• sensory impairments (e.g. blindness, deaf-blindness);
• intellectual disabilities (below average cognitive abilities);
• chronic diseases (e.g., cancer, TB, dialysis);
• incurable epidemiological diseases (e. g. HIV, hepatitis C);
• short-term dangerous diseases (e.g. multi-resistant TB, epidemics), as long as there is no danger for the residents and the care staff;
• pathological dependence on psychoactive substances (except alcohol and nicotine) – substitution programme.

Persons suffering from addiction can only be assigned to an increased need for care place if the secondary illness justifies said assignment. Even a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder alone is not accepted by the Federal Ministry of the Interior as a prerequisite for increased need for care.[38]

When applying for special care, NGOs/landlords must submit following documents:

• Specialist medical report (not older than 3 months) ;
• Nursing or situation report in case of insufficient findings ;
• (In Vienna, a declaration of consent of person concerned must be signed)

In all federal states, the authority decides on the granting of an increased need of care, usually this is granted for one year and then it must be applied for it again before expiration.

Moreover, the following documents must be submitted to renew applications (especially in Vienna):

• a specialised medical report (not older than 3 months) ;
• 2 social reports in total, submitted 6 months apart ;
• A confirmation of treatment from doctors

Source: asylkoordination österreich, Kompetenz Netzwerk Asyl, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3Lrcwaa.

The daily rate of increased care varies in the federal provinces. Organisations providing reception receive a maximum € 48 according to the number of hours of care provided per week. In Vienna, there are also so-called ‘stabilisation places’ within the framework of accommodation for increased care needs. These places are dedicated to individuals who already have an increased need for care and are in an acute severe crisis such as a suicidal state; and for people who obviously have severe psychiatric problems, but so far cannot show any findings because they do not perceive themselves as mentally ill or sick. The latter are often those who are repeatedly discharged from facilities because they exceed the care resources and are not compatible for multi-bed occupancy. Currently, three NGOs have stabilisation places available. The daily rate is € 104, whereby the difference from € 44 to € 100 is only paid by the City of Vienna. Diakonie also has a small residential group for people with increased care needs with 1:1 care.[40]

In some federal states (e.g. Vienna, Tyrol), there are cooperative agreements with pharmacies that provide important medication for persons with increased care needs. The prescriptions issued by the doctors or psychiatrists are sent in advance to the pharmacy. In the facilities themselves, this makes the dispensing of medication much easier, also for the people concerned.[41]

The needs of ill, handicapped asylum seekers, as well as asylum seekers with nursing care, are not sufficiently met in practice. There is no allowance to cover extra costs as long as nursing care is provided by relatives or friends. NGOs have to employ professionals if they offer places for asylum seekers with special – mainly medical – needs.[42]

In all federal states except Vienna and Lower Austria, people with special care are accommodated in regular basic care facilities due to the lack of specialised accommodation facilities. As a result, the level of care, financial costs and type of care differs significantly across the federal states. In Vienna five NGOs (Caritas Vienna, Diakonie, Integrationshaus, Samariterbund Vienna and Volkshilfe Vienna) are specialised in increased care accommodation and offer places in their basic care facilities. All involved NGOs try to provide single rooms for persons with increased special care and for stabilisation places. The care teams include psychologists, social workers, health and medical nurses. In addition, a psychiatric consultation service and interpreting costs are covered.

The facilities also try to create smaller projects (often funded by donations or smaller subsidies from various governmental funds) that can contribute to a tailored and more supportive daily structure for the people concerned. Daily structure is an important element of social care, not only for those with an increased need for care, but for all people in ongoing asylum procedures. Due to the long duration of the asylum procedure and the prolonged state of limbo, mental illnesses, traumas and stress may increase for asylum seekers.[43]

In Lower Austria the NGO tralalobe has set up a facility for women and female unaccompanied minors only, where the daily rate for increased care needs for adults is paid (for care and accommodation for minors there is another daily rate). There is also another facility by another private basic care provider (the SLC Eder in the city of Baden) for people with increased care needs, but according to reports from NGOs in Lower Austria, the facility is not well run  because there is not enough professional staff– but there is limited information available. In Lower Austria, the findings must be sent on a 10-month interval, and reasons must be given as to why people in the family cannot take responsibility for providing care. Additionally, there are 6-8 places for several traumatised unaccompanied children by the NGO Tralalobe.[44]

Tyrol: The Basic Care system does not offer special care places. The concerned persons are looked after by a Case & Care team in various accommodation facilities. The most common criteria for support from the Case & Care team are psychiatric, mental and physical conditions or disabilities.

In Styria, the care ratio and specialisation of care staff is not defined. Depending on the number of persons with increased care, services can be purchased in addition. Caritas Styria provides support to people with increased care in psycho-psychiatric area and no longer its own special care accommodation facilities. Another private basic care provider who runs a former hostel (Wisniewski) is more specialised in physical diseases and high maintenance care.

In Upper Austria, people who do not need special accommodation but have an increased need for care (e.g. dialysis patients) are accommodated exclusively in basic care facilities of non profit organisations like Caritas and Volkshilfe. Although there is no specification of the professional groups, psychologists and nurses work at both NGOs.

In Burgenland Caritas has around 60 places for people with increased special care, but here again there is no staff specialised in working with individuals in need of special care. The authority allows monthly compensation contribution of max. € 700 for the purchase of external care services which have to be applied by concerned NGOs. NGOs reported that they were not made aware for several years of the possibility to accommodate individuals with special needs in Burgenland.[45]

In Salzburg people with increased special care are accommodated in regular basic care facilities, but here as well there is no specialized staff.

Vorarlberg: there is no information available on increased care.

In Carinthia, the availability of places with need of increased care is not clearly communicated and there are no guidelines for care personnel. Diakonie de la Tour is the only institution that provides care for people with increased care on a case-by-case basis. Applications for increased care places are submitted in writing, where increased need must be justified. In practice, it is difficult to be granted an increased care (even for children or for suicidal individuals), and authorities have reportedly stated that trauma-related illness, “everyone has it anyway”.[46]

Diakonie has set up a telephone hotline called AMIKE for people under stress, which is available in several languages such as Dari/Farsi, Arabic, English, Turkish, Kurdish, etc.[47]

In Vienna, there are mobile teams of psychologists (Caritas MIT Team[48], Fem Süd, NEDA[49]) who offer counselling for people in basic care facilities. Both are valuable services that offer support, especially in light of the limitations in terms of resources and funding in this area.

• Caritas MIT Team offers clinical-psychological counselling with a focus on relief, psychoeducation, resource activation, clarification and, if necessary, professional referral to other counselling centres.
• FEM Süd NEDA offers gender and culturally sensitive services for people in primary care with mental health problems. In the NEDA project, clinical-psychological or psychotherapeutic counselling, as well as psychoeducation workshops for women and men with refugee experience in primary care are offered in the respective first languages. These services are provided at the three locations of the health centres FEM, FEM South and MEN,[50] as well as on an outreach basis in facilities in the asylum sector. The aim is to provide initial psychological care, stabilisation and relief for people seeking asylum.

However, all federal states suffer from a lack of capacity in psychiatric hospitals, which means that people who actually need an inpatient admission are sent back to their respective facility after a few hours. Additional barriers include the lack of interpreters, which makes it particularly difficult for doctors to communicate with persons in acute crisis. This has been reported as a serious problem and no solution has been found so far. Asylum seekers in crises (i.e. with a suicidal danger) or people with acute paranoid schizophrenic episodes often do not receive the adequate care.[51]

[1] BVZ, ‚Landesrechnungshof nahm Grundversorgung unter die Lupe‘, 19 April 2018, available in German at: https://bit.ly/2TE7aMq.

[2] Der Standard, Frequently Asked Questions on Unaccompanied children, 3 August 2015, available in German at: http://bit.ly/1gGuyE3.

[3] Presentation by BBU GmbH at Asylforum 2023, available in German at: https://bit.ly/41OV8RL.

[4] Information of the Basic care system, unpublished.

[5] Information provided by the Ministry of Interior, 26 January 2018.

[6] Information of the Basic care system, unpublished.

[7] Ministry of Interior, Answer to a parliamentary request, 38/AB XXVII. GP, 19 December 2019, available in German at: https://bit.ly/2w2RTg5. Information about accommodation in different provinces is not available however.

[8] Asylkoordination österreich, ‚asylkoordination fordert Einhaltung der Kinderrechte‘, 20 November 2020, available in German at: https://bit.ly/2LYQ3oG.

[9] Ministry of Interior, Answer to parliamentary request 3337/AB XXVII. GP, 11.November 2020, available in German at: https://bit.ly/2NAkD8E.

[10] Information of the Basic care system, unpublished.

[11] Asylkoordination österreich, ‚asylkoordination fordert Einhaltung der Kinderrechte‘, 20 November 2020, available in German at: https://bit.ly/2LYQ3oG.

[12] FRA, Migration Bulletin 4, 6 November 2020, available at : https://bit.ly/3qswRhX, 28

[13] Ministry of Interior, Answer to parliamentary request 9406/AB XXVII. GP, 28 March 2021, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3v4E2AE.

[14] Ministry of Interior, BFA-Detailstatistik 2023, available in German at: https://shorturl.at/4umnj.

[15] Ministry of Interior, Answer to a parliamentary request, 38/AB XXVII. GP, 19 December 2019, available in German at: https://bit.ly/2w2RTg5. Information about accomodation in provinces is not available.

[16] Der Standard, ‚Die Hälfte der unbegleiteten Flüchtlingskinder in Österreich verschwindet‘, 6 February 2020, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3bdzoEL.

[17] Government program 2020-2024, available in German at: https://bit.ly/2wDq0eL, 197.

[18] Die Presse, ‘Länder beschließen Quote für unbegleitete Minderjährige’ (Federal provinces agree on quota for unaccompanied minors), 6 May 2015, available in German at: http://bit.ly/1ZgsjrH.

[19] NGO UMF exchange meeting asylkoordination österreich, unpublished.

[20] NGO UMF exchange meeting asylkoordination österreich, unpublished.

[21] Oberösterreichischer Landesrechnungshof, June 2017, available in German at: https://bit.ly/2SyZLzZ.

[22] Art. 7 Tyrolean Basic Care Act (Tiroler Grundversorgungsgesetz).

[23] Asylkoordination/UNICEF, Dreimal in der Woche weinen, viermal in der Woche glücklich sein, 2019, available in German at: https://bit.ly/33cWHvs.

[24] Ibid.

[25] Federal Chancellory, „Expertenrat für Integration: Corona-Krise verschärft Integrationsprobleme“, 13 August 2020, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3qXOXaZ.

[26] Der Standard, ‘Fremdbetreuung: Jungendliche, die (zu) früh erwchsen werden müssen’, 17 February 2023, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3xVMaZ4; Kinder- und Jugendanwaltschalft Wien, “Über den Bedarf eines Gesamtkonzepts für junge Erwachsene in der Wohnungslosenhilfe”, March 2021, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3y99J0A.

[27] Ombudsman board, Special report on childrens‘ rights, 2017, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3cQhEkx.

[28] NGO exchange meeting asylkoordination österreich; Tralalobe, ‘18+ Wohngemeinschaften’, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3y35TGv.

[29] asylkoordination österreich, Nationwide NGO survey on basic services Dec 21/Jan 22, unpublished.

[30] Unpublished survey. These 40 reception centres took care of 924 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

[31] Verordnung der Steiermärkischen Landesregierung vom 27 October 2016, mit der das Steiermärkische Grundversorgungsgesetz durchgeführt wird (StGVG-DVO), available in German at: http://bit.ly/2EKGW22.

[32] Mindestandards betreffend die Unterbringung in der Grundversorgung in Österreich, 2014, available in German at: https://bit.ly/4aWHb97.

[33] Such as Caritas Styria, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3aQs4yG and Tralalobe, ‚Tralalobe Haus der Frauen Hollabrunn‘, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3UIx4zl..

[34] See e.g. Article 2 of the Basic Care Act Salzburg, Official Gazette Salzburg Nr 35/2007, 30 May 2007 or Official Gazette Upper Austria Nr. 15/2007, 15 February 2007.

[35] Information provided by the Ministry of Interior, 26 January 2018.

[36] NGO exchange meeting asylkoordination österreich, unpublished.

[37] These criteria are based on the so-called KOORAT resolution 74-2008, which is not publicly available.

[38] asylkoordination österreich, Nationwide NGO survey on basic services Dec 21/Jan 22, unpublished.

[39] Care ratio: ratio social workers per clients (asylum seekers accommodated).

[40] NGO exchange meeting, asylkoordination österreich, unpublished.

[41] asylkoordination österreich, Nationwide NGO survey on basic services Dec 21/Jan 22, unpublished.

[42] NGO exchange meeting, asylkoordination österreich, unpublished.

[43] NGO exchange meeting, asylkoordination österreich, unpublished.

[44] Projekt Tralalobe, available in German at: https://bit.ly/33inkUk.

[45] asylkoordination Österreich, ‘Kompetenznetzwerk Grundversorgung’, last modified 17 March 2024, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3xUv51G.

[46] asylkoordination österreich, Nationwide NGO survey on basic services Dec 21/Jan 22, unpublished.

[47] Diakonie Flüchtlingsdienst, AMIKE Telephone counselling service, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3GJV2Qh.

[48] Caritas Vienna, Information on psychosocial counselling services, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3oOpHpv.

[49] FEM, Projekt NEDA, available in German at:  https://bit.ly/3uNurzn/.

[50] FEM (Womens‘ Health Centre Frauen Eltern Mädchen), MEN (Mens‘ Health Centre).

[51] asylkoordination österreich; Nationwide NGO survey on basic services Dec 21/Jan 22/Jan 23, unpublished.