First the corona pandemic, then the war in Ukraine – coping with the consequences of the major crises is pushing the employees of the social department to the limits of their strength. In order to be able to handle the most important tasks at all, processing standards have already been lowered in many areas because there are not enough staff. The next big task is on June 1st: Then the refugees from Ukraine, who were previously cared for under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act, will be transferred to the basic security for job seekers and basic security in old age. In the job center alone, 92 additional employees are needed.
The Ukraine crisis has dramatic consequences for the social department in all areas, made clear social officer Dorothee Schiwy in a report for the social committee of the city council. Because the consequences of the corona pandemic have still not been overcome. Employees had to be temporarily seconded to the health department, which was particularly affected by the crisis. At the same time, however, the demand for the services of the social services department increased. This was particularly evident in debtor and insolvency advice, where the number of people seeking advice increased from 11,400 (2019) to 15,600 (2021). The job center recorded a sharp increase from almost 66,000 beneficiaries at the end of 2019 to an all-time high of almost 78,000 in March 2021.
The city youth welfare office also had more to do, explains Schiwy. Socially disadvantaged young people in particular were often left to their own devices. The work for the housing office also became more difficult and time-consuming due to the implementation of the Corona rules. And the social community centers as contact points for people in social emergencies had to expand their support services considerably.
It is not just accommodation that needs to be created on an ongoing basis
All in all, emphasizes Schiwy, the employees of the social services department are exposed to “a steadily increasing workload”. This increased during the pandemic, “not least due to the unchanged tight budget situation and illness-related absences”. As a result of the Ukraine crisis, the tasks continued to grow and new ones were added. It is not just accommodation that needs to be created on an ongoing basis. According to the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act, around 8,000 households with around 13,400 people in private accommodation are paid out through the coffers of the social community centres. For this reason, almost all of the clerks who are still available from the basic security in old age and the economic youth welfare are used on a temporary basis to process the applications of the refugees.
Even with other additional employees, comprehensive and proper application processing is not guaranteed, neither for refugees nor for old people whose pension is not enough to live on. One tries to bring urgent cases forward, explains Schiwy. “Nevertheless, it cannot be ruled out that in individual cases urgent decisions are made too late or that existing income is not sufficiently taken into account and that the wrong amount of benefits is paid,” she admits.
With the change of the refugees from the benefits for asylum seekers to Hartz IV or social assistance on June 1, the situation is not getting any easier. Dorothee Schiwy calculates that the job center will then have to take care of around 11,500 additional households. About 900 households come to the Office for Social Security. In the job center alone, up to 92 full-time positions would have to be created.