From A as in adoption to Z as in subsidy for maintenance - the work of the Fachdienst Jugend is so diverse that many families have contact with our Fachdienst.
The Fachdienst Jugend is there for all girls and boys and their legal guardians when they have problems or are in emergency situations.
The specialists mediate in conflict situations, provide professional advice on parenting problems and family law conflicts, and provide information on further, tailored parenting support or psychological support options.
As a public youth welfare agency, the Youth Service is responsible for fulfilling the youth welfare tasks listed in Section 2 of Book VIII of the Social Code. These include services and other tasks for the benefit of young people and families. The specialized service has the overall responsibility for planning, controlling and financing the tasks as well as for their implementation and is responsible to the beneficiaries for the fulfillment of the legally regulated tasks of youth welfare. We can implement these services on our own responsibility or delegate the services to independent providers.
All youth welfare services are social services that can be used by the beneficiaries within the framework of their right to choose (§ 5 SGB VIII). They include general support services for young people and families as well as individual services for children, adolescents, young adults and their parents. The range of services for which we, as the Youth Service, are responsible includes, among others
- Promotion of youth work (§ 11, § 12),
- youth social work (§ 13),
- the educational protection of children and young people (§ 14),
- general promotion of education in the family (§ 16),
- counseling and support services for mothers and fathers in special life situations (§ 17, § 18),
- educational assistance such as educational counseling, social-pedagogical family assistance, full-time care, home education, etc. (§ 27ff).
Our other tasks in the area of youth welfare include tasks that serve to exercise the state's duty of guardianship in accordance with Article 6 (6) of the Basic Law and include powers of intervention and control. These include the following tasks:
- Provisional measures for the protection of children and adolescents (taking into care) (§ 42 SGB VIII).
- Protection of children and adolescents in family care and in institutions (§§ 43 - 48a SGB VIII)
- Participation in court proceedings (§§ 50 - 52 SGB VIII)
- Guardianship and guardianship (§§ 52a - 58 SGB VIII)
If parents are no longer able or allowed to represent the interests of their children, the children are assigned a guardian. If no suitable individual guardian is available, the specialist service is appointed as an official guardian by the family court and looks after the interests of the child.
We also offer an unmarried mother advice and support in establishing paternity and asserting claims for child support. If the mother so desires, the specialized service takes over the litigation in disputed cases in consultation or seeks an amicable settlement.
Another task performed by the staff of the specialized service is adoption placement.
To ensure that youth welfare services meet the needs of children, young people and families, youth welfare planning develops a coordinated system of youth welfare services.