Survey among authorities
Youth welfare offices complain about a lack of staff and overwork – underage protégés are at risk
When children experience violence from adults, youth welfare offices should actually intervene – but they often lack staff
© Annette Riedl / DPA
In Germany, the youth welfare offices take care of children in need. But the employees are increasingly reaching their limits – with sometimes dramatic consequences for the children and young people.
According to the information, a total of 80 percent of those who responded said that employees of the youth welfare office’s general social service were overworked. The reasons given by the respondents were, for example, that they had to process too many cases or that sickness levels were high. Only around 20 percent of youth welfare offices said they didn’t have the problem.
Too few places for vulnerable minors
According to the survey, youth welfare offices are also finding it increasingly difficult to place children in need in suitable care centers. Around 24 percent of the responding authorities reported that in 2023 children had to spend the night in the youth welfare office’s premises due to a lack of places in care, were entrusted to private individuals or that youth welfare office employees had to take children home with them.
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The child protection expert at Koblenz University, Kathinka Beckmann, told “Report Mainz”: “That means that we have children here in absolute danger situations who are not being helped at the moment, who are being raped at home, who are being held captive in cellars at home, who to be beaten with belts.” There are specialists here “who cannot see this because, for example, they are not making home visits at the moment”.
The Family Ministry knows the situation of the youth welfare offices
According to the information, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs did not want to comment specifically on the figures. A ministry spokesman told ARD magazine that the ministry was “very aware” of the current situation in youth welfare offices. The department sees “a central challenge, particularly in securing skilled workers in child and youth welfare, and is in close contact with the federal states within the scope of its responsibility.”