Family center

Family centers (or: children and family centers) offer easily accessible support and support for children, parents and families. In this definition , the term family center refers to day-care centers that form nodes in a network that promotes children individually and provides comprehensive advice and support to families. The aim is to combine education, upbringing and care as the task of day-care centers with offers of advice and help for families.

In order to have an impact in the social space, family centers should be a central component of municipal child and youth welfare planning. Children's and family centers are places of education and experience that tie in with neighborhood life contexts, activate parents' self-help potential and support and promote social networks. The educational and counseling offerings should be based on the specific needs on site. This means that family centers develop very different offers for specific target groups.

Goals of children's and family centers

• Parents should actively support educational and development processes in their children
• Participation of children and parents in the social space
• Support in reconciling family and work
• Poverty and health prevention
• Orientation aid for insecure parents
• Supporting families affected by separation and divorce
• Support for families with problems due to flight or migration

Forms of children's and family centers

A distinction can be made between different models of children's and family centers, including "everything under one roof", pilot model and network model. In most cases, as part of the expansion of an existing day-care center into a child and family center, both own family and social space-oriented offers are developed and, in addition, cooperation with external specialists is sought, e.g. B. with family education institutions, associations or parenting advice centers.

Funding models by federal state

The development of children's and family centers includes a. to the Early Excellence Centers in England. The model for the first German family center, which was opened in 2001 by the Pestalozzi-Fröbel-Haus in Berlin , was the Pen Green family center in Corby, England. Another early model project, “Mo.Ki - Monheim for Children”, was started in 2002 with the aim of preventing poverty. The North Rhine-Westphalian initiative was awarded the first German Prevention Prize in 2004. Independently of this, the Family Center Association was founded in Brüggen on the Lower Rhine in 1996 . V. (a private initiative that had existed since 1990 under the name “Children's Center”) with the aim of offering education, care and counseling for the whole family inside and outside the community. In the summer of 1997, the association opened the Vennmühle Family Center , initially with two kindergarten groups, play and crawling groups. In the years that followed, the range was gradually expanded.

There are now numerous low-threshold offers for children and families in Germany. Family centers are initiated under different names in different organizational forms and target groups.

Many federal states have developed their own funding models for setting up family centers.

• Baden-Württemberg : The state government has been supporting the further development of day-care centers for children and family centers since 2016. In 2016 and 2017, the further development of up to 100 day-care centers will be funded with a total of one million euros annually. The providers of day-care centers that develop into child and family centers receive a flat rate of 10,000 euros per day-care center upon request; this includes a flat rate for line release amounting to 5,000 euros. The Ministry of Culture was commissioned to prepare a concept for the nationwide expansion of children's and family centers. Stuttgart has been promoting child and family centers since 2012 (day care center in conjunction with intensive individual support for children, strengthening the parenting skills of parents and supporting the family system). In 2017, 20 institutions were supported; the plan is to establish thirty KiFaZe. KiFaZe in the "start phase" were funded with 10,000 euros per year. In 2017, KiFaZe in the “development and implementation phase” received between 35,000 and 50,000 euros, depending on the number of disadvantaged children and families.
• Bavaria : In Bavaria there is support from institutions for mother and family self-help, but no state-wide support for daycare centers that are developing into family centers. With the program to “promote the structural development of communal family education and family support points”, the Bavarian state government would like to create a needs-based education and support offer for parents. Family support centers close to home are installed as contact points in day-care centers or family education centers in order to improve the child and family-related framework conditions on site.
• Berlin : In 2012, the Berlin Senate began building family centers across the board in all twelve districts; funding will initially run until the end of 2017. The entire process is coordinated by the Berlin Family Centers Service Office. Since 2016, 36 family centers (three per district) have received funding. The family centers started in 2012 have up to 60,000 euros a year and those started in 2014 and 2016 up to 72,000 euros, which are used exclusively for the further development and expansion of the existing infrastructure.
• Brandenburg : From 2006 to 2009, the “State Program Parent-Child Centers” supported measures in twelve youth welfare office districts with a total of 400,000 euros to bundle family-support offers and develop family-related infrastructure. There is currently no nationwide funding for family centers.
• Bremen : In Bremen there is no special funding for the development of family centers at the state level. In principle, no state funds are made available for the operation of day-care centers for children; Financing is provided exclusively at the municipal level (City of Bremen and City of Bremerhaven). All 87 municipal childcare facilities in the city of Bremen are mandated to develop into child and family centers. As of 2018, the Senate of the City of Bremen will finance 56 half-time posts for social pedagogues to coordinate further development in this field. In addition, 10,000 euros per facility will initially be made available for material resources for two years.
• Hamburg : The first parent-child center in Hamburg was opened in 2007. There are now meeting points for families with children under three years of age in all Hamburg districts, primarily in districts with social problems. The Hamburg parent-child centers are a standard offer in the state and are integrated into day-care centers. Parents can take advantage of support, education and counseling offers there and receive assistance in matters of upbringing. In 2016 there were 38 parent-child centers in Hamburg. The expansion of another ten centers is planned. The annual funding amount per location is based on the number of users and varies between 58,000 and 77,000 euros. In addition, nine Hamburg child and family aid centers (KiFaZe) offer support and advice for families as well as a wide range of open events, courses and leisure activities for children, young people, adults and seniors. With the exception of Harburg, there is at least one child and family support center in every district.
• Hesse : Family centers have been funded by the Hessian Ministry for Social Affairs and Integration since 2011, with up to 13,000 euros per year since 2017. Funding is currently being given to 141 family centers, which in addition to day-care centers have also emerged from mothers' centers, family education centers, multigenerational houses and associations. In 2017, sixteen child and family centers in Frankfurt am Main (day care center in cooperation with family education center) were each funded with at least 100,000 euros per year (including positions for coordination, family education and, if necessary, educational advice and rents for additional rooms). At least two more KiFaZe are launched every year. A KiFaZ is planned for each district.
• Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania : In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania there is no state-wide funding for daycare centers that have developed into family centers. Family centers have been funded by the state since 1993, which are part of the family education sector and usually do not offer educational childcare.
• Lower Saxony : In Lower Saxony there is no special program for day-care centers that develop into family centers. From 2012 to 2022, the district of Osnabrück is funding the nationwide expansion of day-care centers into family centers with up to EUR 21,820 per year. From 2012 to 2016, 30 family centers were funded, and one more will be added in 2017 and 2018. ^[outdated]
• North Rhine-Westphalia : In 2006, North Rhine-Westphalia was the first federal state to set up family centers. In the 2017/2018 kindergarten year there were around 2,500 family centers. Together with the Verbund family centers (cooperation between several day-care centers), over a third of all daycare centers (around 3,500 facilities) already work as family centers. The Family Center NRW seal of approval , which is awarded for a period of four years, ensures that the certified facilities receive annual financial support of 13,000 euros. Family centers in disadvantaged areas receive 14,000 euros per year. Family centers with at least four network partners have the opportunity to apply for a second grant. Day-care centers for children that are on their way to becoming family centers receive the same funding.
• Rhineland-Palatinate : Since 2012, the state government has been developing the Rhineland-Palatinate day-care centers with the program “ Kita! Plus : Kita im Sozialraum”: a stronger family orientation, low-threshold counseling, poverty prevention and networking in the social area are the main goals. In order to achieve this, day-care centers in residential areas with special development needs receive lump-sum funding for personnel and material expenses of up to 20,000 euros per facility and year. The control is based on criteria via the local public youth welfare agencies. In 2016, 329 daycare centers were funded within this program. This funding will also take place in 2017 and 2018.
• Saarland : There is no specific nationwide support program for family centers in Saarland.
• Saxony : From May 2016 to December 2018, the Saxon State Ministry of Culture is carrying out a model project for the further development of day-care facilities into parent-child centers; the funding amounts to 500,000 euros per year. 31 day-care centers are currently being funded. An extension for 2018 is planned. The project management has been given to the Felsenweg Institute of the Karl Kübel Foundation for Children and Family based in Dresden. In addition, there have been family centers in various forms in the Free State of Saxony for many years, which in many cases are funded by the federal government through the youth allowance or as multi-generation houses.
• Saxony-Anhalt : From 2007 to 2011, the state promoted the further development of day-care centers for children and parents (KEZ). The model project supported 50 centers with a total of 750,000 euros in state funds.
• Schleswig-Holstein : In Schleswig-Holstein, the promotion of family centers is regulated by the decree issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Science and Equality on March 7, 2016. The funding is geared towards the long term: in 2016 and 2017, a funding amount of 2.5 million euros is available. Around 100 family centers can be funded annually with 25,000 euros each. The districts and urban districts receive the allocations from the state and must create a corresponding concept based on a social space analysis.
• Thuringia : Thuringian parent-child centers are day-care facilities with a pronounced family and social space orientation. Since 2015, the districts and urban districts as local providers of public youth welfare have received support through state funding for the expansion of Thuringian parent-child centers. In 2016, 22 day-care centers were funded. In 2017, the state budget foresees 430,000 euros for the further expansion of daycare centers into parent-child centers. In addition, process support, training and a supra-local coordination point are financed.

Family and social space-oriented offers

Children's and family centers are each based on the specific needs of the social space, which are continuously surveyed.

The focus of efforts to promote children has so far been in the foreground:

• participation
• Language training
• Promotion of physical activity
• healthy eating

The offer for parents and families in family centers focuses on:

• Exchange and encounter (e.g. parents' café)
• Advice on upbringing, marital and family problems , pregnancy conflicts or health issues (addiction, mental illness)
• Referral to specific advice centers (e.g. debt counseling )
• Parent and family education (themed parents' evenings, mother-child groups , parent-child cooking courses, etc.)
• Support of parents in their upbringing skills ( parent school / parent training )
• Language courses (e.g. mom is learning German)
• Labor market-oriented offers (in cooperation with job centers )

Qualification and representation of interests

In order to meet the diverse requirements in children's and family centers, the further and advanced training of educational specialists is becoming increasingly important. The Karl Kübel Foundation for Child and Family offers further training to become a multiplier family center in the Odenwald Institute : The Heinz and Heide Dürr Foundation and the Karl Schlecht Foundation support further training in Berlin and Stuttgart to become a consultant for Early Excellence Centers .

The Federal Association of Family Centers was founded in 2012 and has the following goals:

• Nationwide networking of family centers with the aim of equitable development for children and families
• Representation of the interests of the family centers
• Development and implementation of quality standards for family centers without restricting their diversity and anchoring the centers in the respective social environment
• Improving the networking of those involved in child and youth education

literature

Family center in general

• Angelika Diller, Regine Schelle (2013): From day care center to family center. kindergarten today management compact, Freiburg: Verlag Herder, issue 08/2013
• Gabriele Mankau / Harald Seehausen / Wiebke Wüstenberg (2010): Children's and family centers as new places for early childhood education, Kronach: VS-Verlag
• Stephan Rietmann / Stephan Rietmann / Gerald Prein / Erich Sass / Claus J. Tully (eds.) (2012 2nd edition): Day care in transition. The family center as a future model, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag
• Stephan Rietmann / Gregor Hensen (eds.) (2009): Workshop book family centers. Methods for successful practice, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag
• Vanessa Schlevogt / Herbert Vogt (eds.) (2014): Paths to the children's and family center. A practical book, Berlin: Cornelsen Verlag

Practice-related

• Judith Durand / Hilke Eden / Roswitha Staege (2011): Kita practice as a learning culture. An evaluation of Early Excellence Centers of the Pestalozzi-Fröbel-Haus, Berlin: dohrmann Verlag
• Ilona Heuchel / Eva Lindner / Karin Sprenger (eds.) (2009): Family centers in North Rhine-Westphalia. Examples of innovative practice, Münster, New York, Munich, Berlin: Waxmann
• Gerda Holz / Thomas Kunz / Evelin Klein / Vanessa Schlevogt (2005): Local poverty prevention - "Mo.Ki - Monheim for Children", Frankfurt am Main: Institute for Social Work and Social Education
• Christine Karkow / Barbara Kühnel (2008): The Berlin Model. Quality criteria in the Early Excellence approach, Pestalozzi-Fröbel Haus Berlin
• Vanessa Schlevogt (2016): Empowerment of families. Parental participation in the early excellence concept, in: Theory and Practice of Social Pedagogy 9/2016, p. 26f
• Roswitha Sommer-Himmel / Joachim König (2012): Family Centers. Development prospects, standards and evaluation results. Published by the city of Nuremberg
• Ulrike Wehinger (2006): Insight into the work of the Pen Green Center, England, in: Sigrid Tschöpe-Scheffler (ed.): Concepts of parenting education - a critical overview, Opladen: Verlag Barbara Budrich, pp. 175–186

Trade journals

• KiTa aktuell special 1/2012: Children's and family centers
• TPS 8/2013: Daycare in the social room
• TPS 6/2008: Needs-based and networked: Family centers
• small & large, issue 6/08: Family Center themed issue

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. Wood and a. 2005
2. ↑ on organizational forms of children's and family centers cf. detailed Schlevogt, in: Schlevogt / Vogt 2014, p. 14 ff.
3. ↑ cf. Schlevogt, in: Schlevogt / Vogt (ed.) (2014), p. 11f
4. ^ Rheinische Post from August 25, 1997
5. ↑ http://www.familienzentrum-vennmuehle.de
6. ↑ cf. Schlevogt, in: Schlevogt / Vogt (ed.) (2014), p. 18 ff.
7. ↑ on determining social space and needs cf. Schlevogt, in: Schlevogt / Vogt 2014, p. 63 ff.
8. ↑ Further training at the Odenwaldinstitut: https://www.odenwaldinstitut.de/kursleitende/kollegium/schlevogt
9. ↑ cf. http://www.early-excellence.de/
10. ↑ http://www.bundesverband-familienzentren.de/