Taking into care
Taking into care (ION) is a term from the German legal system and describes the temporary admission and placement of a child or young person in an emergency situation by the youth welfare office . In Germany, this measure is regulated by Section 42 of Book VIII of the Social Code and represents a so-called other task of youth welfare within the meaning of Section 2, Paragraph 3, No. 1 of Book VIII of the Social Code. It was carried out 77,645 times in 2015.
To take into care can minors even ask ( self detectors , 11,447 cases in 2014, according to the Federal Statistics Office) or by third parties ( police , supervisors, et cetera ) the youth office reported ( foreign detectors , 36,612 cases in 2014). Among other things, many youth welfare offices have set up special contact points ( child and youth emergency services ) independently or through independent agencies, to which those affected can turn. If minors intend to be admitted directly to an educational institution that actually looks after minors on behalf of the youth welfare office, this does not mean that they are taken into care. Taking into care is an administrative act. The decision as to whether a minor is taken into custody rests solely with the youth welfare office in whose area of responsibility the minor actually resides.
Basics
Taking into care is a quick and unbureaucratic measure in favor of the child and serves as a clarification aid for those affected in crisis situations as well as immediate child protection . The taking into care is one of the few purely caring services of youth welfare , in which the state takes itself in the duty to ensure to the child's or the young person in an exceptional situation.
If a child or young person seeks protection himself, the youth welfare office is obliged to comply with this request. Only the subjective feeling of the person seeking protection is decisive. Even if the adults involved come to a different conclusion at first glance, the child or young person must first be taken into care by the youth welfare office. This does not necessarily mean the determination of the stay in a youth welfare facility. The employees of the youth welfare office are aware that a mechanical separation from their parents, carried out at the child's request, expands the conflict and consider it to be technically and legally necessary to provide appropriate information about the consequences of taking into care. After this consultation, those affected often no longer want to be taken into custody and agree to participate in other, less drastic measures.
The Youth Office is committed to taking into care the legal guardian notified. If they request the surrender of the child, the youth welfare office is obliged ( after examining the facts ) to comply or - if the child's best interests are not assured - to bring about a decision by the family court on further measures.
If the youth welfare office learns that the child is at risk (see also Section 8a of Book VIII of the Social Code), it can take the minor into custody if there is no other suitable option. Measures involving deprivation of liberty are to be ended one day after the start without a judicial decision ( Article 104 of the Basic Law , Section 42 (5) of Book VIII of the Social Code). In addition, they are only permitted to avert danger to life and limb of the person concerned or of third parties (Section 42 (5) SGB VIII). Measures involving deprivation of liberty are extremely rarely used in the context of taking into care. There is no obligation to do so.
As a rule, children and young people are taken care of in on- call foster families and home facilities that have concluded contracts with the local youth welfare offices for the provision of places for emergency situations. During a person being taken into care, the exercise of the right to determine the place of residence is temporarily held by the youth welfare office , taking into account the parental will in a kind of "substitute emergency competence ". The family court decides on a further transfer of parts of the custody.
With regard to the situation in the parental home, the youth welfare office is initially obliged, due to its protection mandate (now expressly highlighted in Section 8a of Book VIII of the Social Code) to persuade the parents to cooperate even if a minor is at risk. If this is not possible, the youth welfare office may have to obtain an urgent decision from the family court in accordance with § 1666 or § 1666a BGB ( § 157 FamFG). In the case of imminent danger , the minor must be taken into direct custody ( if necessary with the support of the police ) and the court's decision must be made up for. The youth welfare office does not have its own powers to apply a so-called “direct coercion” (cf. Section 8a, Paragraph 4, Section 42, Paragraph 6 of Book VIII of the Social Code).
Unaccompanied foreign minors
Foreign minors who have entered Germany are taken into custody by the Youth Welfare Office in accordance with Section 42, Paragraph 1, No. 3 of Book VIII of the Social Code if there are no legal guardians or legal guardians in Germany. Contrary to popular belief, this group of people is not always refugees. The Federal Working Group of State Youth Welfare Offices describes “refugees from countries outside the EU who are on the run for political, economic, gender-specific, health, religious or other reasons, or because of the family situation, the lack of personal security or other reasons, their home country have left and seek protection. The term refugee does not include foreigners who are citizens of EU countries and other western industrialized countries. "
According to the law to improve the accommodation, care and care of foreign children and young people , foreign children and young people after unaccompanied entry are initially taken into custody until they are finally assigned to a youth welfare office within the federal states according to the Königstein key (§§ 42a ff . SGB VIII in the version valid since November 1st, 2015).
statistics
The number of people being taken into care in 2005 was around 25,664 and rose continuously to 48,059 until 2014. During this time, the costs have doubled to nine billion euros per year. According to more recent figures from 2017, a large part of this is attributable to the group of minor refugees traveling alone, but even if this group is excluded, the number of cases has increased. According to the press release of the Federal Statistical Office of August 22, 2018, the youth welfare offices carried out around 61,400 preliminary measures to protect children and young people (taking into care) in 2017. However, 33 percent of those under the age of 14 who were taken into custody in 2017. According to the official youth welfare statistics, the custody measures of the family courts increased by 2014. Between 2014 and 2017, the level remained at a high level with case numbers between 15,400 and 17,200. On a nationwide average, around 41 percent of children and adolescents were able to return to their legal guardians after being temporarily taken into care.
literature
- T. Meysen, G. Schindler: Protection mandate in case of child welfare endangerment : Helpful right when helping . In: JAmt , 10/2004, pp. 449-466.
- Mouths u. a .: Frankfurt commentary on SGB VIII ; Section 42, 7th edition. Weinheim 2013.
- Thomas Trenczek: Taking into care - crisis intervention and granting of protection by youth welfare , Richard Boorberg Verlag, Stuttgart / Munich, 3rd edition, 2017, ISBN 978-3-415-06063-0 .
- G. Lewis, R. Riehm, A. Neumann-Witt, L. Bohnstengel, S. Köstler, G. Hensen: Taking into care concrete . IGFH self-published 2010.
Individual evidence
- ↑ destatis.de
- ↑ destatis.de
- ↑ Thomas Trenczek: Taking into care for crisis intervention in children and adolescents . ( Memento of July 31, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) 2003. In: Ingeborg Becker-Textor, Martin R. Textor (Ed.): SGB VIII - online manual ; accessed on March 13, 2015
- ↑ Recommendations for action on dealing with unaccompanied minor refugees: taking into care, clearing procedures and initiation of follow-up measures (decided at the 116th working conference of the Federal State Youth Welfare Office from May 14 to 16, 2014 in Mainz). (PDF) Retrieved March 18, 2015 .
- ↑ Number of children in homes doubled . In: The world . December 29, 2015 ( welt.de ).
- ↑ Dorothea Siems : Number of children in homes doubled . In: The world . December 29, 2015, p. 5 ( welt.de ).
- ↑ Press release Federal Statistical Office of August 22, 2018, accessed February 20, 2019
- ↑ Letter from the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth of December 27, 2018 , Bundestag printed matter (PDF), accessed February 20, 2019
- ↑ Report: More and more children end up in the care of the state , Ärzteblatt of January 9, 2019, accessed February 20, 2019
