Notes

Non-residential socio-educational support is provided to children, adolescents, young adults and their parents in such a way that the young recipients remain in place (normally in the family home) and receive assistance in solving any problems in that place. According to Book 8 of the Social Code [SGB VIII] typical services of this kind include

• advice on child-rearing (Article 28),
• social group work (Article 29),
• family support workers, care support workers (Article 30),
• socio-educational family support (Article 31).

Semi-residential socio-educational support is also provided to its young recipients in place; however, in this case they spend the day in an institutional setting outside the family home. These services include

• care in a day group (Article 32) or
• care in a suitable family care setting (Article 32)

In addition to these basic forms of non-/semi-residential socio-educational support, in practice other suitable forms of support may be provided or specially developed in accordance with Article 27 (2) or Article 35 (intensive personal socio-educational support).

Non-residential support services are free at the point of delivery. In the case of semi-residential support, recipients may be required to contribute towards the cost (Article 91 [2]).

Advice on child-rearing (Article 28) is the most frequently provided form of socio-educational support. In 2019, it was provided approx. 480,000 times, accounting for two fifths of all forms of support overall. This service is usually provided in counselling centres but can also be delivered in the parents’ personal environment or another suitable setting.

Social group work (Article 29), delivered in over 17,000 instances in 2019, is a comparatively infrequent form of support. It, too, can be provided wherever its recipients need it, or on the premises of an institution.

Family or care support workers (Article 30) assist children and adolescents who live in an unstable environment. They can be a valuable source of support for, e.g., children whose parents have a mental illness or are serving a prison term; children who are victims of domestic violence; or children whose perspectives need to be discussed after coming out of a longer stay in, e.g., psychiatric care. This type of support was provided 71,500 times in 2019.

Socio-educational family support (Article 31) was provided to 257,392 young people in 132,764 families in 2019 and accounted for one fifth of all forms of socio-educational support. Given that it is provided in young people’s normal social surroundings, this service offers great potential to the entire family. However, if provided by unskilled persons, it presents a number of risks – for instance, the family’s privacy may be unduly invaded, intimate information may be inappropriately divulged, or organisations or individual workers may be seen to exercise excessive control, especially in cases where child protection comes into play. This form of support must hence be provided in a highly professional manner, with due consideration given to family dynamics and the intention to create a trusting relationship with the family.

Intensive personal socio-educational support (Article 35) can be provided in a wide variety of settings. Often it is simply a more time-consuming and hence expensive version of its non- or semi-residential counterparts. In 2019 this type of support was provided in approx. 5,300 instances.

Article 27 (2) stipulates that socio-educational support is to be provided “primarily” in accordance with Articles 28-35. The flexibility inherent in this provision means that youth welfare offices can also create and provide special forms of support depending on the situation at hand. These types of services are termed “flexible support”. In 2019, around 71,000 non-residential forms of support of this kind were delivered.

Social learning, learning support and work with parents are the main focus when it comes to childcare provided in day groups and (much more occasionally) in specific intensive forms of day-care in family settings (Article 32). The latter is an intense form of support that seeks to avoid having to remove children from their families. The children or adolescents stay in the family home, but on weekdays receive care either in a facility or a suitable foster family. In 2019, this form of support was provided just over 24,000 times and is hence relatively infrequent.

• Freigang, W. (2016): Ambulante und teilstationäre Erziehungshilfen. In: Schröer, Wolfgang/Struck, Norbert/Wolff, Mechthild (eds.): Handbuch Kinder- und Jugendhilfe. 2nd edition, Weinheim and Basel, p. 832−851.
• Statistisches Bundesamt (2020): Statistiken der Kinder- und Jugendhilfe - Erzieherische Hilfe, Eingliederungshilfe für seelisch behinderte junge Menschen, Hilfe für junge Volljährige 2019 (last accessed: 31 May 2021).