Today's Date:

The economic recession which has held sway in France and all the industrialized countries since the 1970s has caused growing numbers of people to experience poverty, lack of job security and marginalization, especially during the 1990s. When people lose their jobs and are unemployed for long periods, they may find their rents too high to pay and may ultimately lose their homes; spiralling problems and a total lack of prospects have in many cases caused socially-integrated people to lose most of their bearings in a few years, or even a few months, and to experience a material and moral deprivation that sets them apart and makes them feel different and rejected by the rest of society. It has become increasingly evident that it is not enough just to provide help and that there needs to be a real fight against marginalization which undermines social cohesion and the "Republican pact" according to which, in a democracy, all citizens are entitled to the same fundamental rights. Action is therefore needed to make everyone feel that they are full members of the national community.

This approach, long used by those associations¹ with years of experience of field work with the least advantaged, led to the adoption, on 28 July 1998, of an Act "the Outline Act to Combat Marginalization" - Article 1 of which states: "Combating marginalization is a national imperative founded on respect of the equal dignity of all human beings and a priority of all public policies of the nation".

For two years, this Act has provided a foundation for the fight against marginalization in France, together with other legislative measures such as the Act of 27 July 1999 establishing universal sickness coverage. Measures have been taken in a wide range of fields.

Finding work
Health for all;
Housing for all
Guaranteeing a minimum income
Better opportunities for culture, education and leisure
Coping with social emergencies

Finding work

Combating long-term unemployment: long-term unemployment is one of the main causes of marginalization since the "desocializing" effect it has on its victims makes it increasingly difficult for them to return to work. Under the ANPE (National Employment Agency) "Nouveau Départ" (New Start) programme, help with seeking and preparing for work is provided on a personal basis for people who have not worked for a long time. Young people aged under 25 who have been unemployed for over 12 months, adults who have been registered unemployed for over 24 months and people living solely on income support are eligible for this programme. Various kinds of help are offered:

- jobseeker help, including guidance and help in finding a job;
- a personalized jobseeker mentoring service, led by the same counsellor for a period of three months, which can be renewed, with at least two interviews per month;
- access to training, where necessary including personalized help in drawing up a training plan;
- personalized mentoring including welfare support, for people in the most difficult situations whose social, family and health problems further complicate their return to work.

1,400,000 people have benefited from the "New Start" programme over the last two years, 54% of them under the policy to combat marginalization. In the year between September 1999 and September 2000 long-term unemployment fell by 23.1%.

TRACE programme: this programme (trajet d’accès à l’emploi - gateway/path to employment) is intended to provide 100,000 16-25-year-olds who are least well-equipped for the job market (those who left school without any qualifications and/or have difficult social, personal or family situations) with general and personalized help in finding employment for a period of up to 18 months. All the local agencies able to play a part in the integration of such young people need to be mobilized for TRACE: local employment agencies, social workers, associations¹. One of these bodies is responsible for recruiting young people into the scheme and coordinating action by the various agencies involved. Each young person’s programme is drawn up and monitored by a single "mentor". Young people receive pay during periods of work and training. They may be eligible for emergency aid if they are experiencing particular material difficulties. At the end of June 2000, 65,000 young people had already benefited from TRACE. After 15 months, 4,600 young people had completed their programmes and 4,000 had jobs. 80% of the young people still in the scheme were in employment or training.

Integration through work: this involves companies marketing goods and services which are prepared to take on people who are ill-equipped for the job market, and companies - known in French as EIs (entreprises d'insertion) - promoting socially useful activities and offering training, as well as firms which come into both categories. The goal of all these schemes is to provide suitable conditions, drawing on special induction and mentoring methods, to help people facing particular social and work problems, who are often maladjusted and lack qualifications, to return to the world of work. These firms enter into agreements with the State in order to benefit from grants, exemptions from social security charges and/or assisted contracts (see below). Although this kind of system existed prior to the Act's adoption, the number of such companies has grown since: the number of EIs increased by some 30% and the number of temporary EIs (ETTIs) by 78% in the space of two years. The number of posts offered by them rose by 20% in 1999 and was expected to have increased by 24% by the end of 2000.

Assisted contracts: it is possible to recruit highly disadvantaged people under various types of contract of employment for which employers receive substantial State aid. Long-term unemployed people or those aged over 50 and people with particular integration problems can, for instance, be recruited under contrats emploi solidarité (CES - employment support contracts). The State enters into agreements with local authorities, other public bodies or associations¹. These bodies can then use this kind of contract for jobs involving activities to meet unsatisfied community needs. In the case of contrats emploi consolidés (CEC - consolidated employment contracts), the State pays 80% of costs for five years. This scheme helps people in the most disadvantaged situations gain the stability they need to decide what job they wish to do, with the help of the guidance and training measures set out in the contract signed by the employer and the State. At the end of June 2000, just over 6,000 people were on a contract of this type.

Combining income from work and benefits: the purpose of this measure is to prevent situations in which it may be financially more advantageous for people to remain unemployed than to return to work. A certain level of income is guaranteed under this measure, in particular to help people cope with the costs of returning to work: transport, child-minding, etc. For three months, it is possible to receive the whole of some benefits. For the following nine months, the combination is 50%: half of the income from work is deducted from the benefit paid.

Couverture maladie universelle (CMU - universal sickness coverage): the creation of CMU by the Act of 27 July 1999 is a major weapon in the fight against marginalization. Various surveys had shown that access to health care was not equal; in 1998, for instance, one out of seven people and 30% of the unemployed were unable to afford health care as they could not pay their share of the costs. CMU, which came into force on 1 January 2000, should ensure that health care is genuinely available for everyone. It has two strands:

- membership of the basic social security scheme for all residents in stable and regular circumstances who do not have entitlements under sickness insurance. A "stable situation" is taken to mean that the person has been a permanent resident of France for more than three months. People who are homeless or in very insecure housing situations may designate a local authority welfare center or an approved association¹ as their abode;

- free supplementary cover, covering medical costs not reimbursed by sickness insurance schemes. Beneficiaries therefore have nothing to pay for consultations and medical treatment. They can also opt for direct payment by insurers, i.e. they do not have to pay for their health care and then wait for reimbursement. Beneficiaries can choose, for the management of their supplementary CMU, either their primary sickness insurance fund or an approved body (mutual, insurance company, etc.). Eligibility for supplementary cover is means-tested (EUR 533.57 per month for a single person). Estimates set the potential number of people eligible for CMU at 6 million. At the end of June 2000, six months after its introduction, 4.2 million people - i.e. nearly 70% of the population involved - were benefiting from this scheme. Its success shows how much it was needed. In addition to receiving adequate care if they fall ill, people are also eligible for dental treatment and prescriptions for spectacles which they previously tended to do without.

PRAPS and PASS: the 1999 Act also provided for the introduction of PRAPS (programmes régionaux pour l'accès à la prévention et aux soins - regional programmes for access to preventive care and treatment). In each department, a PRAPS is drawn up following a preliminary analysis of health care provision for the most disadvantaged. It sets out coordinated preventive and health education measures, specifies the part that the various services and institutions will play in them and lays down measures to combat illnesses aggravated by insecurity, vulnerability and marginalization. Within these programmes, the PASS (permanences d'accès aux soins de santé) are medical and welfare reception units which help the most disadvantaged gain access to the hospital system. Each PASS must include a reception system through which situations of distress can be identified, medical consultations, welfare consultations and the issue of a paper detailing their various hospital consultations and entitling them to the medicines prescribed. It is run by a steering committee including doctors, pharmacists, administrators, nursing managers and social services: this committee is open to partner associations¹ and social services. On 30 April 2000, 183 of these PASS had formed steering committees and 138 had drawn up their medical, welfare and administrative entitlement, reception and monitoring procedures.

Housing is a key factor in integration. Obtaining a decent home with a rent that the family can afford is the dream of the most disadvantaged. It is just as essential for people to keep their homes, as they may descend into poverty and enter a potentially irreversible state of marginalization if they are evicted and forced onto the streets. It is for this reason that the fight against marginalization includes a whole range of measures to improve access to housing and prevent eviction:

Departmental housing access plans: these are designed to boost and coordinate the action of the various services and bodies concerned and are drawn up for a minimum of three years. A committee responsible for the plan is chaired jointly by the Prefect (who represents the State in each French department) and the Chairman of the General Council (the department's elected decision-making organ). Inter alia, the committee assesses the effects of the plan so that any adaptations which may become necessary can be made. The plan also lays down the eligibility criteria for the FSL:

- the FSLs (fonds de solidarité logement - housing solidarity funds) are intended to help disadvantaged people with rent arrears to keep their homes or find new ones. These funds offer loans, grants and guarantees and finance welfare support measures. On 30 June 2000, the FSLs had assisted 1,500,000 households.

Better allocation of local authority housing: several schemes are involved here:

- departmental collective agreements: in each French department, the Prefect enters into a three-year collective agreement with local authority housing services, specifying the number of dwellings that the latter undertake to allocate each year and a waiting-time beyond which applications must be examined on a priority basis;

- intercommunal housing conferences: bringing together the department's communes which have sensitive urban areas or a large number of local authority social housing units, these give an opinion on the draft departmental collective agreement and draw up an intercommunal charter setting out the obligations that each commune and each local authority must respect under the plan;

- single departmental registration: any application for local authority housing now has to be registered and a number allocated. The fact that all applications now have to be registered and that housing cannot be allocated without a number being issued means that allocation is more transparent and applicants are on a more equal footing. It is also possible to measure applicants’ waiting-times, and calculate the number of housing applications and categorize them better.

Fighting eviction: A preventive approach should enable action to be taken well before the dramatic and traumatizing stage of eviction is reached. In the case of social housing, the local authority section managing the property must, before initiating court proceedings to recover rent arrears, take the case to the departmental housing benefit section or the family benefits fund to find ways of settling these rent arrears. The local authority managing the property can initiate case proceedings (summons) only three months after the case has been taken to the competent body. Regardless of whether the property belongs to a private landlord or the local authority, two months must have elapsed from the summons before the courts can give a ruling. The bailiff responsible for informing the tenant of his court summons must also notify the Prefect who is responsible for expediting a welfare investigation with the competent bodies. Eviction prevention charters must also be drawn up in all departments. The Act also states that "any person or family experiencing particular hardship because of their insecurity and vulnerability is entitled to local authority assistance to gain or retain access to water and energy supplies and a telephone service". National agreements are drawn up for this purpose between the State and Electricité de France, Gaz de France and the water companies, setting out the amount and the methods of their respective contributions. In each department, agreements are drawn up between the local representatives of water and energy companies and local authorities or, where appropriate, welfare organizations in order to decide how the national agreements are to be applied.

Guaranteeing a minimum income

Better procedures for management of excessive debts: legal steps have been taken to improve the management of cases where households are facing hardship because of excessive debts resulting from a loss of income due to unemployment, health problems or the death of a spouse, all of which are events that lead to what is termed passive debt, in contrast to active debt which is the result of excessive use of credit.

- the composition of the debt commissions has been improved so that account can be taken of all aspects of the debtor’s financial situation. The inclusion of a representative of the departmental Director of Taxation Services means that debts to the State and local authorities and State-owned utilities can be dealt with in a coordinated way;

- debtors can be heard by the commission and are thus able to give a more personal account of their circumstances than is possible in an administrative file. A procedure for determining liabilities allows debtors who contest certain debts to get them checked.

- debt repayments may be spread over eight years. For the most financially disadvantaged, a moratorium of up to three years is possible. At the end of the moratorium, the commission may, in cases of extreme hardship, cancel all or some of the debts;

- the repayment plan must leave the person and their family with an income enabling them to cope with the expenses of daily life. A single person’s income cannot be lower than the RMI (or minimum income guaranteed to all individuals over the age of 25 whose income from all sources is below a certain level - currently some EUR 389.05 for a single person).

The fight against illiteracy: illiteracy, i.e. the inability to read a simple everyday text, is a major handicap causing problems in working life as well as in the most ordinary social relationships. In the reading tests carried out during the days of introduction to military service (attendance has been compulsory for all French young people since the end of conscription), an average of 5% of young people found it very difficult to read a text. This is why the law states that "the fight against illiteracy is a national priority. All the public services shall contribute in a coordinated way to the fight against illiteracy in their respective fields of action". It has been decided to set up a public interest grouping which will be responsible for spearheading, coordinating and assessing policy to combat illiteracy. The choice of this status is explained by the need to bring public and private law bodies under the same umbrella: Ministries, State-supervised bodies, regions, industry sector representatives, etc.

Promoting children’s education: the Ministry of Education has introduced schemes to try to prevent young people from being excluded from school or suffering social marginalization: young people who have failed at school and whose behaviour has started to become disruptive can be kept within or re-integrated into the education system through the classes relais and internats relais (special classes and schools for children with problems). Collège grants (collèges cater for pupils aged approximately 11-15 years) were also re-introduced at the beginning of the 1998-1999 academic year for the least advantaged families.

Merit grants, created at the beginning of the 2000-2001 academic year, should help 10,000 holders of collège grants who have obtained good results in their brevet des collèges (certificate of general education) to continue their education to baccalauréat level. These supplement lycée (15-19 years approximately) grants and offer pupils a chance to take advantage of cultural, social and occupational opportunities from which students from better-off families can already benefit as a result of their environment.

Opportunities for leisure and sport: this is an important aspect as, in the view of disadvantaged families themselves, the fact that they never go on holiday and can never offer their children the opportunity to play their favourite sport, brands them socially and makes them feel that they are different from everyone else and excluded from a major part of social life. The initiatives which have been introduced therefore include:

- the bourse solidarité vacances (holiday solidarity grant): this a public interest grouping set up by the Minister of State for Tourism bringing together private-sector tourism companies, associations¹ organizing holidays for disadvantaged people, works councils, etc. The principle is that holidays should be offered, at very reduced rates, to charities or local authority social welfare centres in contact with the most disadvantaged so that they can organize holidays for families with social problems. Holidays cost from EUR 38.11 to EUR 106.71 per person per week. In 2000, 10,000 people were thus able to go on holiday, often for the first time. Special rates have been introduced by the SNCF (French Railways) and Air France;

- the coupon sport (sport voucher) allows children from low-income families to obtain a reduction of the membership subscriptions for approved sports associations¹. 130,000 families benefited from this measure in 1999, and 200,000 in 2000. Close on half of the beneficiaries were aged between 10 and 13. The ticket sport (sport ticket) helps young people who are not able to go away to play a sport during their school holidays.

Alongside prevention measures, action needs to be taken to deal with the extreme situations of the homeless and destitute. Several measures have been introduced to deal with these cases of social emergency:

Each department has to have one of these schemes, operating twenty-four hours a day, in order to provide information and guidance for people in distress. All departments already have a "115" telephone line for help for the homeless. The 115 line can be run as part of a special reception service coordinating all the players and therefore able to assess actual needs. The CHRS (centres d'hébergement et de réinsertion - accommodation and social re-integration centres) play a key role in these schemes. These establishments do not all provide accommodation, but can give guidance and, if necessary, help people reintegrate into society. Since 1997, 1,690 new beds have been created, making it possible to set up 19 help and guidance services. 92 of these centres are now able to take in families and not just single people.

The CASU (commissions de l'action sociale d'urgence - emergency social action commissions): these were set up in all departments at the beginning of 1999. Their purpose is to put people asking for assistance in contact with the requisite person so that they can explain all their problems without having to approach a whole range of people, to ensure that the applicant receives a comprehensive service at the earliest possible opportunity and to find solutions to emergencies efficiently and in a way which respects people’s dignity. A departmental charter supported by most of the partners concerned has been drawn up in most departments. These charters lay down methods and rules for the coordination of the various participating bodies.