Fewer children in care: Youth welfare offices in Saxony-Anhalt are reacting!

Fewer children in care: Youth welfare offices in Saxony-Anhalt are reacting!

In Saxony-Anhalt, the youth welfare offices took a total of 1,939 children and young people into care in 2022, which corresponds to a decrease of five percent compared to the previous year. This means 103 fewer people taken into care than in 2021 South German newspaper reported. The main reasons for these cases being taken into care are varied, with excessive demands on the parents or one parent accounting for the highest proportion with 671 cases.

Unaccompanied entries from abroad are also a significant factor, affecting 623 cases, followed by 336 cases of neglect. The decline in the number of unaccompanied arrivals being taken into care is a remarkable 17.7 percent. The majority of young people taken into care are between 14 and 18 years old, which corresponds to 1,096 cases. The second largest group includes children under the age of three, with 232 cases.

Average duration of protection measures

The average duration of admissions was 71 days in 2022, an increase compared to 51 days in 2021. What is particularly notable is that one in three cases were resolved in less than a week. This shows that in many cases a solution can be found quickly to return the children and young people to their familiar surroundings.

Legal framework for taking into care

The legal basis for taking children and young people into care is clearly defined. Youth welfare offices are obliged to act immediately in cases where there is an urgent threat to the child's well-being. This applies in particular to unaccompanied foreign children and young people entering Germany. As a rule, care is taken temporarily into suitable foster families, facilities or forms of living.

A central goal of this measure is to clarify the crisis and develop a perspective with the parents or guardians. The consent of the legal guardian is required for the person to be taken into care. If such consent cannot be obtained in a timely manner, the youth welfare office must immediately seek a decision from the family court.

In 2022, 37,880 children and young people were regularly taken into care nationwide. Around 8,000 of them did so of their own volition, with the focus also on the 14 to 18 age group. Almost two thirds of this group were female. Most of the people taken into care were due to urgent threats to the welfare of children, which accounted for around 29,800 people.

Taking children into care is a central task of youth welfare, which is guaranteed by public providers. Ten years after the introduction of the regulations for the temporary care of unaccompanied foreign minors, the number of these minors entering Germany has increased to 28,564 in 2022. There was a significant increase, especially as a result of the war in Ukraine. The Bundestag receives an annual report on the situation of unaccompanied foreign minors.