Preventive human rights monitoring in child and adolescent psychiatry and welfare institutions

Since 1 July 2012 the Austrian Ombudsman Board (AOB) together with its six regional expert commissions form the so called “National Prevention Mechanism” implementing the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). The commissions are mandated to conduct regular, unrestricted and unannounced visits to all types of places in which there is or can be a deprivation or restriction of personal liberty, such as prisons, police stations, but also psychiatric hospitals or residential homes/groups for children and juveniles supervised by youth welfare services. 20 monitoring visits have been held in departments for Child- and Adolescent Psychiatry between 2012 and 2016. In the field of residential groups for young people 40 visiting protocols (out of a total of 176 between 2015 and 2016) have been chosen for this analysis. The following article overviews the legal sources and key issues of the monitoring process in this field as well as the commissions’ findings and recommendations. © 2017, The Author(s).