Help for young adults
Help for young adults is provided to 18 to 21-year-olds for personal development and an independent lifestyle in accordance with Section 41 of Book VIII of the Social Code . In a broader sense, there are offers of help that are granted in youth welfare in accordance with the relevant provisions in Section Four of Chapter Two of Book VIII of the Social Code. They include educational and integration support for mentally disabled children and young people .
Historical background
By 1975, the age of majority in West Germany began at the age of 21. After that, there was a massive gap in supply for the young people. In West Berlin, from the point of view of a person who was no longer entitled to the Youth Welfare Act, the slump in performance was compensated for a short time later by the introduction of an “adult care regulation”, which, however, was only relevant within the Berlin youth administration . A number of relevant committed authors described the grievance and took care of drafts regarding corresponding offers and service positions in the upcoming youth welfare law, including Reinhard Wiesner , Rita Süssmuth , Johannes Münder , Manfred Günther , Holm Putzke, Ilse Reichel-Koß and Peter Schruth .
Addressees of the aid
The addressee of help in accordance with Section 41 of Book VIII of the Social Code is the young adult himself, since the parents' responsibility for bringing up the child expires at the age of 18 . The young adult should become "independent" in order to enable him to lead an "independent life". For this reason, the support offered to young adults differs from that to minors or that for parents with entitlement according to Section 27 (1). Parents are to be supported in the exercise of their responsibility to bring up their upbringing through help in bringing up children.
Since this responsibility for upbringing no longer exists in the case of a young adult, aids that relate to the family of origin are not permitted . This is also the reason for the legislature's choice in Section 41 (2) of Book VIII of the Social Code as to the structure of the assistance. The Sozialpädagogische family support (§ 31 SGB VIII) and education in a daily group (§ 32 SGB VIII) were not included in the list of tasks, as they relate to the family of origin and are thus unsuitable.
Young refugees
Unaccompanied minor refugees are accommodated and cared for in Germany as part of child and youth welfare. If necessary, this is responsible for young people up to the age of 27. There is even a so-called legal right to support up to the age of 21. Nevertheless, for many young refugees, youth welfare often ends at the age of 18.
Help content
Help for young adults can be granted both as “continued help” for upbringing, as well as “first aid”, which is only requested after the age of 18.
In the case of “continued help” for upbringing, the offer that was granted in the context of youth welfare before the age of 18 is continued even after reaching the age of majority. In order to avoid suspension, assistance must be requested before the child is 18 years of age. The "continued help" for education is intended to prevent the endangerment of the progress made so far.
The application for "first aid" is legally possible up to the age of 21. However, it should be done as early as possible.
Assistance for young adults is usually granted up to the age of 21 (in special individual cases even beyond that).
A further “eligibility requirement” for the granting of the aid is the “willingness to cooperate” of the young adult applying . Phases in which young people show oppositional behavior towards social pedagogy are normal. One of the tasks of youth welfare is to support young people in such phases. However, if young adults refuse to help and if they do not adhere to contracts, the youth welfare office can refuse the service.
Section 41 (3) also provides that young adults can still be looked after after the youth welfare service has ended. For this purpose, a certain number of contact hours for advice can be agreed in the assistance plan procedure (usually a maximum of 20 hours). This follow-up care is intended to ensure support from the usual reference person in emergencies and individual questions.
Often in the past, eligible adults were sent by the youth welfare service to the social welfare office because they were not responsible to apply for integration assistance there. Today there are a large number of judicial decisions up to the highest federal courts, which are intended to avoid that the person entitled does not receive any help, because both authorities refer to the other.
Web links
- Text of the eighth book of the Social Code - child and youth welfare - (Article 1 of the law of June 26, 1990, Federal Law Gazette I p. 1163 )
Individual evidence
- ^ Fourth section (help with upbringing, integration help for mentally handicapped children and young people, help for young adults) SGB VIII
- ↑ Second chapter (youth welfare services) SGB VIII
- ↑ cf. "Help for young adults according to SGB VIII § 41, in: Jugendhilfe, Heft 8 1993" - the problem history is described here
- ↑ Age of majority for unaccompanied minor refugees. In: https://b-umf.de/ . Federal Association of Unaccompanied Minor Refugees, accessed on November 18, 2018 .
