Socio-educational community

The social pedagogical community (SpLG) is a special form of inpatient home education according to § 27 ff, aids for education and § 34 SGB VIII, home education, other assisted living forms.

Educational specialists with practical experience live and work with children and young people in socio-educational communities . The target group are children and adolescents with serious behavioral disorders and behavioral problems who require professional outside care. The children and adolescents live in families or with individuals, whereby i. d. Usually up to four children can be accepted. Care in a socio-educational community is a very individual form of accommodation. This includes the child's participation in the private life of the caregivers.

Socio-educational partnerships work in different organizational forms, ranging from classic employment relationships subject to social insurance, to freelance work and independent commercial enterprises. The majority, however, are members of independent, non-profit youth welfare organizations. The supervision ratio is predominantly 1: 2. In socio-educational communities with more than two places, further specialists support the educational work or both partners are available for the work. Additional aids for vacation and illness replacements are made available very differently depending on the provider.

The basis of educational work in socio-educational communities is the offer of a constant relationship. This opens up a pedagogical and therapeutic approach, which is a particular strength of this form of care. The children and adolescents are offered reliable and intensive relationships with the awareness that the children and adolescents use this offer in different ways. The pedagogically designed everyday life is a learning and practice field for the development of children and young people. Characteristics of the everyday structure are recurring rhythms, tasks and standard situations.

In order to ensure the professional quality of the work, the educational specialists are integrated into an institutional network through advice, service meetings, working groups, supervision and further training. The children, on the other hand, live in a largely private living space that is hardly institutionalized and guarantees a lot of individuality and normal everyday life.

Since the biological parents continue to play an essential role for the children and adolescents housed outside, the work of parents is an important part of the work for the specialists in the socio-educational communities.

As a rule, this form of care includes medium to long-term accommodation and young people are accompanied and supported when they become independent. However, returns to the family of origin are generally also possible.

The Camphill communities represented worldwide each consist of several family, socio-educational communities in a village-like association.