In France, the "young adult" contract allows for the extension of child welfare assistance (ASE) that young adults, lacking resources or family support, and between the age of 18 and 21, benefited from when they were minors.

Yet the term 'contract' is misleading, thinks Lyes Louffok, a children's rights activist and a former member of the National Council for Child Protection (CNPE). "There is nothing contractual between the department and the young adult. The real name of this arrangement is APJM: Temporary reception of young adults (Accueil provisoire jeunes majeurs)," said Louffok.

"Temporary reception is therefore a mandatory proposal made by the department to a youth who benefited from child welfare before their entry into adulthood. The young adult can accept or refuse it, but the department must offer it."

Child protection laws protect foreign minors in Europe from expulsion. Yet once they reach adulthood, French law considers them as "undocumented".

The "young adult" contract (APJM) therefore offers young migrants time to adapt, integrate and regularize their administrative situation before embarking on their adult life. Above all, if the arrangement in theory ends at the maximum age of 21, "nothing prevents the departments from extending the assistance to the age 25, for example. This has already been done," said Louffok.

 The "young adult" contract provides several types of support:

• Accommodating the young adult in their reception structure, such as a residence for youth workers
• Financial support
• Education and/or psychological support

The "contract" never depended on the administrative situation of young adults until recently. This meant the department could decide to extend the aid to a young person issued with an OQTF: Obligation to leave the French territory (Obligation de quitter le territoire français).

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Those issued an OQTF cannot access 'young adult'

Yet France’s immigration bill enacted in 2024 will change the terms of the "young adult" contract. Article 44 of the bill stipulates that young foreign adults issued an OQTF can no longer benefit from the extension of child welfare benefits.

"The law is clear: departments no longer have the right to offer APJM to young people who have become the object of the French administration removal procedure," said Louffok. "Yet nothing prevents them [the departments] from creating an equivalent system, bearing another name, so as not to deprive the young adults of protection." Young foreigners often receive an OQTF "between the ages of 18 and 19, while the prefecture studies their file."

Article 44 can therefore "plunge these young people into a position of insecurity. They will de facto find themselves on the street," said Louffok. Instead of staying in their reception center, their home, "they will have to get by with emergency accommodation centers to sleep in a warm place, when everyone knows the situation is complicated and there are few places. We are clearly forcing these young people to wander on the street."

InfoMigrants documented numerous cases of young foreigners asked to leave France at the age of 18 while they were in training programs or apprenticeships. Some even had promises of employment.

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'My life collapsed when I turned 18'

The Ardennes prefecture (administrative center) in eastern France issued at least 25 OQTFs in January 2023 to young migrants from the department. Associations and even business owners throughout France are advocating for the department to allow them to stay in France to continue their studies. 

Also read: Paris: Police 'evacuate' 400 young migrants without offering alternative shelter

InfoMigrants met Omar, who arrived in France at 16 and was studying catering. Yet, once he turned 18, his apprenticeship contract ended, and the young Guinean received an OQTF.

"Everything was going well, the boss was happy and I was adapting well,” he remembered. "Yet the day I turned 18, my life completely changed. Everything collapsed [...] After the appointment and the fingerprinting at the prefecture (administrative center) [...] I received an obligation to leave French territory accompanied by a ban to return to French territory (IRTF), despite my work documents and letters of recommendation from my employer, my school and French teacher."

Laye Traoré, another young Guinean, became a symbol of the fight of young foreigners for their regularization. He obtained his papers following the publicized hunger strike in 2021 of his boss, the baker Stéphane Ravacley.

InfoMigrants also told the story of Adama Ballo, a Malian issued with an OQTF. The young man arrived in France as a minor and later found a permanent job as a butcher in Normandy. Yet, the young man’s story ended well. The Normandy prosecutor's office canceled its OQTF on December 27, 2022. The mayor of Rouen personally contacted the prefecture (administrative center) to ask it to reverse its decision. "I would really like to thank everyone who supported me," Adama said at the time. "This is a wonderful Christmas present."

Also read: Explainer: How is a young migrant's age assessed in Germany?