Vienna court reviews restrictions at children’s time-out home

A Vienna district court is deciding whether restrictions imposed on a 13-year-old boy at the “Auszeit-WG”, a group home in Vienna, are legally permissible, ORF reported. The boy has been living there since mid-July and is the facility’s first resident.

The hearing at the Innere Stadt district court is closed to the public. A decision is expected during the afternoon. The review is being conducted under the Accommodation Act, which is currently the legal basis for the facility, following an application by the VertretungsNetz association.

The court is examining the specific restrictions imposed on the boy, based in part on two expert reports. One was prepared by a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry and the other by a specialist in remedial and special education. One issue is whether the front door may be locked.

At an initial hearing, the district court provisionally deemed the measures permissible. Whether the Accommodation Act is an appropriate legal basis for the “Auszeit-WG” is not part of the current proceedings. Constitutional lawyer Heinz Mayer has recently questioned that legal basis.

Vienna’s child and youth welfare authority, MA 11, does not plan to appeal the ruling. Its spokeswoman told ORF that if the court decides, for example, that the door may no longer be locked, the authority will stop locking it.

The “Auszeit-WG” is intended for children aged 11 to 13 who are not criminally responsible and have repeatedly committed serious offences. The facility has two places, and MA 11 says it is planning to admit a second child. Details of the 13-year-old’s case have not been disclosed for child-protection reasons.

Stays at the home in Vienna’s Simmering district initially last six weeks and may be extended once for another six weeks. The boy’s current stay is due to reach that point in the coming days. MA 11, which also has custody of the boy, will decide whether to extend it.