Social Work & Society ▪▪▪ A. Fili, V. Xythali: The Continuum of Neglect: Unaccompanied Minors in Greece Residential care Residential care has been the norm in housing minors, for many years. Most of the centers were administered by NGO. Until the end of 2015, these facilities were limited in number and significantly underfunded, thus leaving the system unprepared for the significant increase of UAM who needed to be accommodated. In response, new centers had to be created. Currently two types of facilities exist; the ‘Temporary’ Accommodation Facilities (TAF), 23 usually located at the borders and the ‘Traditional’ Accommodation Facilities in the mainland. All of the centers at the borders (18) are operated by NGO, with the aim to reduce and eventually eliminate all detention-like conditions for UAM. As their capacity is limited, they primarily target younger or especially vulnerable minors. They started operating in the summer of 2015 based on the assumption that minors would be transferred to a ‘traditional’ facility within 3 weeks. The closure of the Balkan route in February 2016 and the entrapment of hundreds of children in Greece, however, led to the overflowing of facilities in the mainland, which could not accept new admissions; thus, changing the nature of temporary centers at borders into (near) permanent ones. ‘Traditional’ accommodation facilities are located in the mainland and on the island of Crete. Most of them are located far away from urban centers with no access to public services. Public bodies, namely the Youth and Lifelong Learning Foundation (INEDIVIM) and only recently the Ministry of Labor, operate a small portion, while the majority are run by NGO. In response to the emerging needs, the number for spaces available rose from 400 in 2015 to 1.500 in 2016 and went down to 1,280 by November 2017. Yet, as of 15th November 2017 2,121 UAM, 392 of whom in closed reception facilities and 78 in protective custody (i.e. detention), were awaiting placement at one of these facilities. What is more, the sudden expansion of housing arrangements highlighted the need for professionally qualified staff. However, the state of emergency in which a lot of the new centers were established, did not allow for training on the legal and institutional provisions for children, rendering most children with limited access to appropriate information and support. Most facilities operate under the assumption that minors will soon leave the center and Greece for another country, so, their facilities cater for minors’ basic needs, rather than forming a long-term integration policy. These basic services include legal aid and assistance for asylum claims, basic psychosocial support, basic medical services and educational activities, such as language training. However, these are not offered in a systematic way, creating a feeling of frustration to both the staff and the minors. This is further exacerbated by the lack of interpretation services, which hinders communication. Moreover, existing accommodation facilities do not follow any common standard operating procedures (SOP), their operation is not regulated by any law and there is no specialized supervisory body to monitor the living conditions. A draft SOP was prepared at UNHCR’s initiative and it is rarely used as a basis for the operation of some shelters, which on the whole depend on their internal regulations. In essence, the lack of a common operational framework and accountability affects their operation, services, benefits, and the quality of these services. A common issue in these centers is funding. Project-based arrangements do not allow for long-term programming, while at the same time, liquidity gaps in the flow of funding leads to 23 TAF are also located in Athens and Thessaloniki. Social Work & Society, Volume 15, Issue 2, 2017 ISSN 1613-8953 ▪▪▪ http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hbz:464-sws-1264 9