Justice. The private daycare group La Maison Bleue targeted by a complaint from a childcare union

The private daycare sector is once again under fire. The National Union of Early Childhood Professionals (SNPPE) filed a complaint this Friday against the La Maison Bleue group for "potentially fraudulent practices," according to the union's lawyer.

This complaint for "fraud against a public person or an organization charged with a public service mission" and "obstruction of the exercise of trade union rights" was "filed" with the Paris prosecutor's office, indicated ^Mr. Vincent Brengarth.

False declarations, financial anomalies...

According to the text of the complaint, the facts described in the report of the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS) published in June and in the new version of the book Les Ogres by Victor Castanet "are likely to constitute criminal offenses."

In its report, the Igas highlighted failings in the quality of care, false declarations, financial anomalies, and a refusal to cooperate on the part of the private daycare group La Maison bleue. The updated version of the Ogres reports, for its part, that the number of children cared for in the group's facilities far exceeds the regulatory capacity of the establishments.

"We have received a great deal of feedback" from the group's employees, said Cyrille Godfroid, co-secretary general of the SNPPE, who called for consideration of "the impact of these strategies on children and families, but also on professionals." The group's CEO, Claire Laot, indicated that "a transformation plan" for La Maison Bleue was "underway" and assured that the situation of its employees was one of its "priorities."

People&Baby also in the union's sights

The SNPPE also indicated that it would join the complaint filed in November 2024 against People&Baby by the anti-corruption association Anticor for fraud and embezzlement of public funds.

By the end of 2024, People&Baby's new management had assured that it had "initiated a profound transformation" and promised to correct "without delay" any "dysfunctions that could be identified." This complaint throws a new stone in the garden of the private nursery sector dominated in France by Babilou, Grandir (Little Red Riding Hoods), People&Baby and La Maison bleue.

Since the death of an 11-month-old girl in a People&Baby daycare center in 2022, criticism of the sector has increased, with detractors pointing to a race for profitability at the expense of child safety in some groups .