“Truncated, sometimes even invented exchanges”: the president of the Federation of private nurseries responds to Victor Castanet's investigation

Two years after his shocking investigation into nursing homes, Victor Castant has just published Les Ogres, a book on private daycare centers. In it, he denounces several failings, including wanting to make profit a priority and neglecting the quality of care, lest it border on mistreatment.

Elsa Hervy, the head of the federation of private daycare centers, which brings together 1,100, responded to the journalist's accusations in Ouest France.

All stakeholders are trying to improve the quality of work

While she confirms that 80% of daycare places are currently in the private sector, she explains that: “Of the 5,000 that are destroyed each year, 92% are in municipal or associative daycare centers that are older than the young private daycare centers and which remain in the majority”.

For Elsa Hervy: “all stakeholders are seeking to improve the quality of care, but when it comes to paying, many fewer are willing to increase their financial contribution”. And she calls on the CAF to “define the fair cost of a childcare place on which the rates could be indexed”.

On cases of mistreatment and malnutrition, she specifies that they concern “People and Baby, a company that has not been a member of our federation since 2011 and whose membership was unanimously refused in 2015".

For her, these are clearly "professional errors" that she "strongly condemns" but this would be due to "a deterioration in working conditions".

A satisfaction rate of 92%

She also specifies that “for ten years, we have measured the satisfaction rate of all our families each year with a sample of 1,000 people. It is 92%. Not everything is perfect. Occasional, localized malfunctions can occur. The federation, which does not have the means to sanction, calls for the establishment of comprehensive national rules, enforceable against all day care centers. For example, we have been calling for an interministerial decree setting the minimum mandatory quantities of food to be served to children for twelve years. This minimum guarantee is to prevent any form of fraud. This should be a priority for the 23rd Minister of the Family in twenty years".

His federation would be ready to "join the actions aimed at condemning the scandalous practices described".

On the other hand on the remarks in a Telegram messaging loop with Aurore Bergé – the resigning Minister of Solidarity in charge of early childhood – attributed to her in the book, she claims that "these exchanges are truncated, rigged, sometimes even invented, probably manipulated by a malicious source" and announces that the federation will file a complaint.