Administration: No occupancy freeze for child protection emergency service
The Education and Family Administration dismissed the criticism of the GEW union regarding the situation at the Berlin Child Protection Service (BNK) by the Senator for Education and Family, Katharina Günther-Wuensch (CDU). A spokesperson for the Family Administration stated on a Wednesday in response to an inquiry that "it should be clear: The hiring stop does not apply to the original tasks of the BNK." Children and adolescents will still be accepted for these tasks. This includes tasks such as taking children into care at night, on weekends, and on holidays following home visits and in cases of appropriate assessment by the Notdienst or of children and adolescents without a registered address in Berlin.
GEW Warns of Overload
The GEW Berlin had previously announced that it had received "with great concern" the news that the Senatsverwaltung had imposed a hiring stop on the child and youth services. At the same time, the GEW warned of an unbearable burden for the employees in the Regional Social Pedagogical Service (RSD) of the Youth Welfare Office. Many of them did not know how to accommodate children and adolescents in need. "There are initial considerations from the teams to spend the night with the children on site or to take them home with them," the GEW statement read. The situation in the youth welfare offices and the child protection service was unbearable.
The Senatsverwaltung countered this by stating that it had issued a differentiated and time-limited hiring stop for the Child Protection Service Notdienst until the end of August for children and adolescents who already had a place in a facility for institutional child and youth care.
"The Notdienst is designed for emergency situations"
Additionally, the Family Administration had already reacted to the increased need for crisis places by expanding the offering of the Berlin Child Protection Service from 39 to 57 places and increasing the personnel by an additional 14 positions.
"The expansion of the crisis places is currently leading to an increased number of free providers of institutional child and youth care releasing children and adolescents to the Notdienst due to disciplinary issues," the Family Administration stated. This prevented the Berlin Child Protection Service Notdienst from fulfilling its actual tasks. "The Notdienst, as the name suggests, is designed for emergency situations and not for accommodating children and adolescents who are already accommodated."
- The Youth Welfare Office and the Child Protection Service are currently facing an unbearable situation, according to the GEW union in Berlin.
- Society is concerned about the youth welfare offices, following the announcement of a hiring stop by the Senatsverwaltung that has led to an increased burden for employees.
- Katharina Günther-Wünsch, the Senator for Education and Family in Berlin, defended the hiring stop, emphasizing that it only applies to emergency situations and not regular tasks.
- The CDU, along with the Family Administration, believes that the expansion of crisis places has led to an increase in free providers releasing children and adolescents to the Notdienst, preventing it from fulfilling its emergency duties.
- The GEW union is worried about the future of children and youth welfare in Berlin, with discussions of employees taking children into their homes due to the overwhelming workload.
