In order to combat the consequences of the pandemic for children and young people, the city of Munich will in future spend more money than before, a total of almost one million euros a year. This was decided by the child and youth welfare committee and the social committee in a joint meeting on Tuesday. Around 936,000 euros are to flow annually from 2023 onwards, primarily into projects to prevent violence and bullying. However, this is significantly less than the social department had suggested.
These projects are important because, according to the city youth welfare office, measures such as school closures and lockdowns have led to a significant increase in incidents of conflict, violence and bullying in school classes. “Many schoolchildren from all types of school will continue to be confronted with their own potential for aggression and conflict situations in the class for many years to come as a result of family stress and will be dependent on professional support for this,” the draft says.
Because social contact repeatedly had to be lost over a long period of time, many children and young people no longer had suitable strategies for solving conflicts in everyday school life without violence. According to the draft, the sponsors of school projects to prevent violence have long waiting lists and cannot meet current and future needs.
For example, the Mobbingcoach project by the Brücke association, “Come on, we’ll find a solution” by the German Child Protection Association and the Zora project by the Imma association are now being increased. The Hippy prevention program, which helps parents to support their children’s development, is also being expanded. The program is currently offered in 14 districts in Munich. According to the social services department, the demand is very high, especially from paediatricians.
The budgetary situation is forcing city councils to set priorities
On the other hand, projects aimed at strengthening the class community between Ukrainian and German schoolchildren were reduced. “It’s a pity that a few projects were cut,” said Thomas Lechner from the Left Group. He hopes for the coming year that a closer look will be taken and where cuts will be made. The prevention of violence in children and young people is particularly important, because there is still the opportunity to heal.
Lena Odell from the SPD said that children and young people were among the victims of the pandemic and that this can still be felt today. It was a bitter situation for children and young people. It has now been possible to set priorities, but funding has not been found for all measures. “It was a struggle as to where we could set accents in view of the budgetary situation,” said Marion Lüttig from the Greens. “It hurts what we have to do without.”
It took a long time until the decision was made on Tuesday: three months ago, the child and youth welfare committee and the social committee should have dealt with the meeting proposal from the city youth welfare office, which deals in detail with the consequences of the pandemic and with measures for children, young people and families grapples. The bill was then briefly removed from the agenda in September. The template has not been rewritten since then.
The juvenile court service needs more staff to fulfill legal tasks
However, a comprehensive amendment by the SPD/Volt and Greens/Pink List factions cut some of the measures from the bill and eliminated others completely. For example, the proposal proposed four posts for juvenile court assistance and a budget of up to €304,200; they were completely deleted. Although the situation is formulated very drastically in the meeting draft: “Without additional personnel, the youth court assistance can no longer fulfill all legal tasks,” it says there.
The city council also did not decide on the projects to prevent violence as suggested by the city youth welfare office: the measures by various independent organizations are now being financed with 361,280 euros instead of 437,120 euros. Instead of two street worker positions, only one position will be increased and the project of the Kibs counseling center, which works with boys under the age of 14 who violate sexual boundaries, will be funded, but not to the extent proposed.
Alexandra Gaßmann from the CSU parliamentary group addressed another topic. She emphasized how important the issue of the lack of therapy places was. “We have to make sure that we get better at that. If children and young people wait forever for therapy places, then their ordeal will be prolonged.”