Tasks and mission of child and youth services - Article 1, Social Code Book 8

(1) All young people have the right to receive assistance so they can become independent, responsible and socially competent individuals.

(2) …

(3) The objectives of child and youth services are, inter alia,

to assist young people and eliminate disadvantages so as to give all young people equal educational and development opportunities and hence address any structural imbalances or personal deficits;
to support young people as appropriate given their age and ability so they can make their own choices in all areas of life that pertain to them and in turn, participate fully in society;
to promote parents’ ability to provide care so they are enabled to meet their responsibilities towards their children;
to guard against dangers to children’s and adolescents’ welfare,
to help create or maintain positive living conditions for young people and their families as well as a positive and family-friendly environment.

Notes

Germany’s Child and Youth Services Act (Kinder- und Jugendhilfegesetz) corresponds to Book 8 of the Social Code (SGB VIII), one of 13 books in total. It represents the federal legal framework for child and youth services. The exact nature and extent of these services (e.g., services provided in child day-care facilities) are detailed in various pieces of federal state (Länder) legislation.

Book 8 of the Social Code came into force on 1 January 1991, superseding the 1961 Youth Welfare Act (Jugendwohlfahrtsgesetz). The intention was to replace the previous rather intervention-centred act with a more service-oriented piece of legislation covering young people and their parents – a transition that at the time was considered a paradigm shift in child and youth services. Over the last three decades, the Child and Youth Services Act has been amended several times, most recently in 2021 through the Act to Strengthen Children and Youth (Kinder- und Jugendstärkungsgesetz/KJSG), one of whose priorities is to strengthen the participation rights of young people and their parents and which incorporates a set of services from a single source for children with and without disabilities.

Gruppe junger Menschen sitzt im Gras / Group of young people sitting in the grass

sharefaith / pexels.com

Article 1 of Book 8 lays out the fundamentals of the Act. Para. 1 spotlights the right of young people to receive assistance so they can become independent, responsible and socially competent individuals. This highlights the fact that child and youth services are designed first and foremost for young people, rather than serving the interests of the parents who raise them or those of the state.

Para. 2 states that “the care and upbringing of children is the natural right of parents and a duty primarily incumbent upon them. The state shall watch over them in the performance of this duty.” The wording is identical to that used in Article 6 (2) of Germany’s Basic Law, illustrating the constitutional limits pertaining to the responsibilities outlined in para. 1. The state as a supervisory body can only intervene in parents’ rights if this is required to protect the child from harm.

Para. 3 describes the objectives to be met by child and youth services:

to assist young people and eliminate disadvantages in a move to give all young people equal educational and development opportunities so as to redress any structural imbalances or personal deficits;
to support all young people as appropriate given their age and ability to make their own choices in all areas of life that pertain to them and in turn, to participate fully in society;
to promote parents’ ability to provide care so they are enabled to meet their responsibilities towards their children;
to provide protection to children and adolescents if their parents are unable to do so sufficiently;
to contribute actively towards creating and maintaining a positive and family-friendly environment as a cross-cutting task, and to advocate for the interests of children and adolescents in other areas as well.

The wording of Article 1 of Book 8 shows that the tasks of child and youth services are exceptionally broad. It is required to

provide an infrastructure to support and educate young people that allows them to become independent, well-integrated members of society;
provide children, adolescents and their parents with assistance and support to compensate for poor living conditions;
exert supervision (control and where necessary, intervention) to protect children and adolescents against threats to their welfare;
advocate for the interests of young people, ensure their participation, and prevent any segregation and marginalisation.

These expectations are full of ambivalence; neither are the tasks entirely compatible. In other words, child and youth services must engage in a certain balancing act in order to reconcile its general mission to promote child-raising, participation and education with its responsibilities in terms of intervening in emergency situations and protecting young people’s welfare.

Book 8 of the Social Code (SGB VIII) provides the legal basis for child and youth services. Since the adoption of Book 8 in 1990, it has undergone several updates and amendments, most recently in 2021 with the Act to Strengthen Children and Youth (Kinder und Jugendstärkungsgesetz/KJSG), one of whose priorities is to strengthen the inclusion and equal participation of all children and adolescents, and thus ensure the delivery of services from a single source for children with and without disabilities. (See in particular Integration support - Legal basis, Integration support – Procedural requirements and Integration support for young people with a psychological disability)

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Tasks and mission of child and youth services - Article 1, Social Code Book 8

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