The time is no longer for simple alerts, but for action. On December 4, 2025, an opinion from the General Controller of Places of Deprivation of Liberty (CGLPL) confirmed a reality that associations have been denouncing for years. In France, children hospitalized in psychiatry are deprived of their liberty outside of any legal framework.
Between abusive isolation and lack of judicial control, these practices place France in direct contradiction with the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.
For Florent Chapel, co-president of Autisme Info Service, the situation is unbearable. “It is no longer a question of alerting. It is now a matter of putting an end to established violations of the law.” he believes firmly.
A failing system where opacity reigns
The call for evidence launched by Autism Info Service on its line 0800 71 40 40 aims to document the extent of these attacks. For families of children with autism or neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), the care pathway too often resembles a blind tunnel.
Florent Chapel points out the lack of transparency of certain child psychiatry services. “You ask for the medical file, they don’t give it to you. You ask to enter the service, you are forbidden. And when your son comes out, if he is not verbal, he is unable to explain what he suffered.”. This vulnerability of children then becomes a shield for failing establishments.
The end of “dogmas” and psychoanalysis in hospitals
The observation is all the more bitter as these practices of restraint or confinement are often justified by obsolete theories. Florent Chapel forcefully denounces the persistence of guilt-inducing psychoanalysis in the public service, citing aberrant examples of “inside-outside conflicts” or theories on the mother-child relationship to explain genetic disorders.
“France is the only country in the world where psychoanalysis is taught in public hospitals. In France, it’s guilt. We are faced with dogmas, faced with a religion” he is indignant, recalling that 99% of cases of restraint could be avoided thanks to cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT) and modern de-escalation techniques.
Colossal financial resources for a “mediocre” result
Contrary to popular belief, the problem is not only a lack of resources. Psychiatry represents the largest expenditure item for Health Insurance. Florent Chapel underlines the absurdity of the situation, particularly in certain establishments under investigation such as the Fondation Vallée:
“You pay taxes so that your children are brutalized. We cannot have the largest expenditure item in Social Security and have it be the worst discipline.”
Some hospitalizations cost up to 400,000 euros per year per child, with sometimes traumatic results. The association is calling for a profound reform of child psychiatry, the strict imposition of good practice recommendations from the High Authority of Health (HAS) and the creation of an order of psychologists to regulate the profession.
A call for testimonies to “purge” the system
The objective of this data collection is to objectivize practices to feed current administrative and judicial investigations. Autisme Info Service invites parents, adolescents, but also whistleblower health professionals to come out of the silence.
“It’s not a witch hunt, but people have a right to know. Testify, tell us what you observed” urges Florent Chapel. Once this problem is “purged”, France will finally be able to offer its children the dignified and scientific care they deserve in 2026.
Practical information
Have you witnessed or been a victim of abusive practices (isolation, restraint, deprivation of contact) in child psychiatry?
- Call 0800 71 40 40 (free service)
- Go to the Autisme Info Service website to submit your testimony.