A higher number of child protection cases are being resolved through legal proceedings.
"In many households, things are not in a good state," comments a family court judge from Wiesbaden. Several issues are causing this, including high media consumption, violence, and mental illness. As a result, more and more of these problems are ending up in the courtroom.
Judges in Hesse are witnessing an alarming increase in violence and mental health issues within families, leading to an increased number of child protection cases being brought before the courts. "The state of affairs in many families is deteriorating," warns Doris von Werder, a family court judge in Wiesbaden district court. She has observed a growing number of children and young people displaying behavioral and mental health issues. Von Werder hopes for increased funding in family and youth welfare services, as well as teacher training. "If not, I'm afraid we're heading for dark times."
In 2023, 694 custody proceedings, including child protection cases and residential care, were recorded at the Wiesbaden Local Court - a 10% increase from the previous year's 512 cases. There has also been a noticeable increase in the number of children in child and adolescent psychiatric wards.
"Many parents are unable to properly raise children due to their own unstable personalities and alcohol or drug problems," notes von Werder. "Children suffer from a lack of stable relationships and often experience violence." The judge also sees the over-consumption of media as a problem, with some children even skipping school because of it.
Claudia Dirlenbach, a juvenile court judge in Wiesbaden, concurs. She finds that more than 90% of juvenile court proceedings involve defendants from dysfunctional family backgrounds. "They're exposed to violence and pass it on," she states. Dirlenbach believes that excessive exposure to violent computer games sometimes blurs the lines between fantasy and reality for children. In extreme cases, even very young offenders lose all inhibition.
According to Heidi Fendler, a family court judge at Frankfurt District Court, the difficulties in handling child protection cases also include proving sexualized violence, especially in cases involving younger children. It's challenging to determine if mentally ill parents can still parent with support or not, and mental health issues seem to be on the rise across the board.
Fendler believes that the pandemic, which saw children isolated and out of school, may have contributed to these issues. "The disruption of their regular lives could result in difficulties in social interaction or even depression," she says. She advocates for better staffing in kindergartens and schools to help identify children with many issues.
Fendler echoes her counterparts' concerns about the lack of resources for helping families. "We need more advice centers to guide children through media consumption," she stresses. Another critical need is for integration assistants.
Despite these challenges, Fendler sees progress in the handling of domestic violence cases. "Society now takes these cases more seriously than it used to," she observes. The uptick in cases being brought before the courts could also be the result of heightened awareness and children being more willing to speak out against abuse.
Family court judges in Dieburg, southern Hesse, have also noticed an increase in child protection cases in recent years. The court spokesperson reports a significant increase in the last two years "without being able to say for certain" whether it's due to more cases or increased attention. Kassel Local Court saw a more than doubling of new child endangerment proceedings, rising from 115 cases per year in 2018 to 268 cases in 2023. The spokesperson did not comment on the possible reasons.
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- The international community needs to address the escalating issue of domestic violence and sexual abuse within families, as these problems often lead to child protection cases and have severe impacts on children's mental health and wellbeing.
- In many instances, the root causes of domestic violence and child protection cases can be traced back to issues such as substance abuse, mental illness, and excessive media consumption, which contribute to creating unstable family environments.
- It is crucial for governments and organizations to provide adequate resources and support services for families struggling with these challenges, including investment in mental health services, teacher training, and advice centers to help children navigate media consumption and develop healthy coping mechanisms.
Source: www.ntv.de
