Vorarlberg children's village
| Vorarlberg children's village | |
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| legal form | Association ( ZVR : 867784076) |
| founding | January 13, 1951 |
| founder | Hugo Kleinbrod |
| Seat | Bregenz |
| main emphasis | Child and youth welfare |
| Action space | Vorarlberg |
| Employees | 230 |
| Website | www.vorarlberger-kinderdorf.at |
The Vorarlberg Children's Village is the largest child and youth welfare facility in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg . The organization maintains preventive, outpatient, semi-inpatient and inpatient offers for around 2500 children and young people and their families.
The Vorarlberg Children's Village is divided into a non-profit, non-partisan and denominationally independent association and a non-profit company with limited liability . The association runs the Kronhalde Children's Village, the other departments form the non-profit GmbH. The headquarters and administrative center of the Vorarlberg Children's Village are located on the grounds of the Kronhalde Children's Village in Bregenz .
history
Founding as a holiday campaign
The story of today's Vorarlberg Children's Village begins in 1946, when chaplain Hugo Kleinbrod , who is seen as the founding father of the institution, first initiated a holiday campaign in Schönenbach near Bizau . The aim of this holiday campaign was to let starving and disadvantaged children experience some wonderful summer weeks in nature and to nurture them there. The funds available for this were initially extremely modest. There were open roofed fireplaces, food was consumed outdoors and people slept on straw sacks or in hay barns in the surrounding huts and Alps. Only in 1950 was about 78,000 shillings a first barracks known as the "bunkhouse" are built. The financial resources for this construction project came from a card and building block campaign. The holiday campaign, which at that time was reserved exclusively for boys, looked after around 1200 children and young people in the summer of 1950 alone.
From the holiday campaign to the children's village
On January 13, 1951, the founding meeting of the “Kinderdorf Vorarlberg” association took place in the clubhouse in Dornbirn . This meeting is seen as the laying of the foundation stone for today's Vorarlberg Children's Village. State school inspector Wilhelm Thurnher became the first president of the association . In December of the same year, the purchase contract for the purchase of the "Alte Mühle" in Au-Rehmen was signed and the year-round care of children and young people began. From 1952 on, there was also a holiday campaign for girls in the Dafins holiday home . At the same time, the "old mill" was rebuilt and used as a holiday home, among other things. Three years later, in 1955, the year-round Don Bosco home in Au-Rehmen was inaugurated. The "old mill" was available to several families and temporarily for a provisional school class. In the 1960s, six family houses were built in Au-Rehmen and two family houses were built on a donated property in Lustenau . In 1965 and 1967 a school house and then a kindergarten were built at the Au-Rehmen site before the Au-Rehmen Children's Village was officially opened on June 30, 1968 . At that time 10 families with 85 children found a home here.
Relocation from Au-Rehmen to Bregenz Kronhalde
In 1972, a plot of land in Bregenz- Kronhalde was purchased in order to set up a second children's village. Construction of the new children's village began in 1975. As early as 1976, seven children's village families were able to move into the new buildings. The Kronhalde Children's Village was finally inaugurated in August 1977.
In autumn of the same year, the children's village's first residential community for girls was opened in Lustenau. In May 1984 the “rescue group” was created as a crisis station to take in children and, if necessary, their mothers in crisis situations in families. The idea of completely relocating to Bregenz at the end of the 1970s was put into practice in 1985 with the start of the second construction phase in Bregenz-Kronhalde and the sale of the properties and buildings in Au-Rehmen and Lustenau. In this context, a community house, a multi-purpose hall, a residential building and a new semi-detached house were built and occupied in Bregenz in 1985 and 1986. The last Kinderdorf family then moved from Au-Rehmen to Bregenz in 1987.
Name change and modernization
The move of the children's village to Bregenz Kronhalde and the professional need to also look after families on an outpatient basis in order to prevent children from being placed outside the home where possible, led to the establishment of a new department. In 1987, for example, “Outpatient Family Care” was founded, followed by “Family Service” in 1990. These two offers were later merged with one another to form an outpatient family service. In 1991, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary, the institution that had previously been called “Kinderdorf Vorarlberg” was renamed Vorarlberger Kinderdorf . In 1995 around 50 children lived in nine families in the children's village in Bregenz, and around 15 young people were also housed in assisted living facilities. Around 150 families with 300 children received outpatient care. At that time, the number of employees at the Vorarlberg Children's Village was around 80.
In 1996, a further department, the “ Foster Child Service”, was launched to search for, mediate and support private foster families . In 1999, with the takeover of the former Jagdberg youth home in Schlins, another task was taken on that had previously been carried out by the state of Vorarlberg itself. The former home was divided into family living groups and is now run under the name "Social Pedagogical Boarding School". In 2003, the “Landess Sondererziehungsschule Jagdberg” was re-established as a “social pedagogical school”. The sponsorship is responsible for the Good News of Batschun , and the Vorarlberg Children's Village has been the school holder ever since.
In 2002 the Kronhalde children's village was rebuilt, and since then the Hugo-Kleinbrod-Haus has accommodated the offices of the village management, rooms for educators and psychologists as well as a room for young people and craftsmen. In 2004 a staff unit for child protection was set up. She campaigns against violence against children and young people in any form and for a child-friendly climate in Vorarlberg. In the last few years, two further departments have emerged under the umbrella of the Vorarlberg Children's Village, all of which are dedicated to prevention: in 2004 the “Marketplace of Ideas” was founded, which in 2007 was renamed “Family Impulse”. This department includes several offers, namely the “FAMILY POWERment”, the lecture series “Valuable Children” and the “Play Bus”. In 2008, the Vorarlberg Children's Village, together with the Health Care Working Group and the Vorarlberg Pediatricians and Adolescents' Doctors, won a competition organized by the Vorarlberg state government to create a program to prevent early childhood development disorders. The project and later the “Family Network” department developed from this.
Organization and conception
The Vorarlberger Kinderdorf Association acts as the umbrella organization for the Vorarlberg Children's Village . This association is the owner of the Vorarlberger Kinderdorf non-profit company with limited liability . Donations go directly to the association, which uses them as intended. Since May 12, 2005 the Vorarlberg Children's Village has been awarded the Austrian seal of approval for donations .
The association runs the Kronhalde Children's Village in Bregenz and takes care of the alumni. All other departments of the Vorarlberg Children's Village are part of the non-profit GmbH. The services of the GmbH are offered at market prices. The most important customer of the Vorarlberg Children's Village is the state of Vorarlberg or the Vorarlberg state government and specifically the child and youth welfare departments of the district authorities entrusted with this .
Board of Directors
The current 6 members of the association's board exercise this function on a voluntary basis. They also form the general assembly of the non-profit GmbH. The chairman of the Vorarlberger Kinderdorf association is currently Franz Josef Köb.
Managing directors
The management of the Vorarlberger Kinderdorf non-profit GmbH is usually the responsibility of a managing director who has been appointed for this task by the shareholders' meeting or the association's board of directors. The psychologist and psychotherapist Christoph Hackspiel has been entrusted with the management of the company for more than 30 years. His deputy is Anneli Kremmel-Bohle, who also heads the “Child Protection Office”.
Concept and mission statement
The mission statement of the Vorarlberg Children's Village, which was drawn up in 1998 and revised again in 2013, describes the objectives and structure of the organization's activities.
“The Vorarlberg Children's Village is a child protection institution and works for the well-being of children and young people and their families - especially in stressful life situations. The guiding principle for us is the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child : We see the promotion, protection and participation of children and young people as our shared responsibility and our common goal. With this in mind, we are committed to a child-friendly climate in our society. "
Awards
In 2009 the Kronhalde Children's Village received the Children's Rights Prize of the State of Vorarlberg in the category “Association / Institution” and the preventive offer “FAMILY EMPOWERment” received the Honorary Prize of the State of Vorarlberg. In 2011, the Vorarlberg Children's Village received an award from the Vorarlberg Provincial Government's Family Department for its family-friendly personnel policy. In 2012, the state award "Most Family-Friendly Company" was awarded.
Departments
In its seven existing departments, the Vorarlberg Children's Village currently looks after and supports around 2,500 children and young people and their families.
Kronhalde Children's Village
The Kronhalde Children's Village is the origin and, for decades, the center of the organization. In the Kronhalde Children's Village, minors whose parents are unable to provide adequate care and upbringing for their children in the medium to long term are cared for on behalf of the child and youth welfare of the state of Vorarlberg.
Over 70 children and adolescents find a new home in the children's village families and children's residential groups managed by the children's village Kronhalde. In the children's village families, five children are cared for by a family team consisting of a children's village mother, a mother's representative and an educator. Different forms of care, support and therapy options are available as required. The family team is professionally led by educators and psychologists with systemic training. In addition to the tried and tested Kinderdorf families, eight to ten children and young people between the ages of 8 and 14 are cared for over the short to medium term in family living groups. The cooperation with the parents of the children and young people is of particular importance. In the sense of an educational partnership, they are involved in the everyday life of the children and young people according to their possibilities. Intensive parental work often succeeds in bringing the children back into their families.
Alumni care accompanies young people from the Kronhalde Children's Village into self-employment and is available as a point of contact for everyone who grew up in the Au-Rehmen Children's Villages and in the Kronhalde, even in adulthood. Many "alumni" keep in touch for many years.
Catch group
The rescue group offers protection and security for children between the ages of 4 and 14 in acute crisis situations. Family crisis care places are especially available for looking after small children and babies. The offer gives families the chance to take a time-limited “break” in order to find a way out of crisis situations together. In this context, there is close cooperation with public child and youth welfare and outpatient facilities.
Outpatient family service
The outpatient family service, with its five multi-professional regional teams in the districts of Bregenz and Dornbirn, helps disadvantaged families in problematic and crisis situations. The outpatient family service comes into action, for example, in the event of behavioral problems in children and adolescents and the resulting overloading of the parents, in the case of educational problems, poverty, separation, physical and mental illness in the family. The well-being of children and young people is promoted centrally, with the families as a whole being looked after and supported. If possible, the children should stay in their family environment while they are being looked after by the outpatient family service.
Foster child service
On behalf of the youth welfare of the state of Vorarlberg, the foster child service is constantly looking for and accompanying foster parents who are ready to give children a new home. In addition, the foster child service also looks for and looks after so-called “anchor families” who take in socially disadvantaged children between the ages of six and twelve who need more support and care. Most of the children are of preschool age at the time of their placement, with foster parents especially looking for babies and toddlers.
Paedakoop (formerly a socio-educational boarding school and school)
The residential groups, the lifeworld-oriented care (LOB) and the Paedakoop school (pedagogical cooperation) are dedicated to children and adolescents of compulsory school age whose school and personal development is at risk. Parents or legal guardians can also find help here with significant parenting problems. The Paedakoop residential groups have been run in their current form since 1999 at the Schlins im Walgau site and since 2011 in Feldkirch. The former "Landesjugendheim Jagdberg" is now a facility for the reception and care of children and young people who have serious problems in their school, family and social environment. In close cooperation with the school, the children and adolescents in short to medium-term residential group accommodation are offered school education and help in coming to terms with their life situation. Since 2008, there has also been the option of external outpatient support for children and adolescents in their original milieu. This includes socio-educational support in the family and at school.
In the school, which is also located on the Jagdberg in Schlins and has branches in Feldkirch and Wolfurt, particularly emotionally and socially disadvantaged children and young people are offered a school education that meets their special requirements and needs. The social pedagogical school is supported by the work of the Good News Batschun . The healthy personality development in a holistic understanding is at the center of the activities of the Paedakoop. The aim is reintegration into the family and the local school. Children and young people have the chance to recognize their own strengths and try out new things in a protected environment. The skills of children and young people and their families are encouraged in order to restore their independence. This is also implemented through different workshops in the creative and craft area. In 2013 the social education school and the social education boarding school were merged under the new name “Paedakoop”.
Family impulses
The “Family Impulse” area addresses the general population as a preventive measure and offers supportive impulses to families who do not need professional help but who still want their backs to be strengthened in everyday life. Volunteering with children as well as (intercultural) family friendships lead to new solidarity networks and thus relieve families in everyday life. FamilyImpulse offers include:
- FAMILY empowerment - organized neighborhood help
- Spielbus - revitalization of playgrounds and residential areas
- Lecture series "Valuable Children" - Parents and awareness raising
- Intercultural meeting - morning where parents meet and children are taken care of
Network family
In 2008, the Vorarlberg state government announced a competition to create projects to prevent early childhood developmental disorders. The Vorarlberg Children's Village was able to prevail in this competition together with the health care working group and the Vorarlberg pediatricians and was entrusted with the initiation of the jointly developed project “Network Family”.
In order to strengthen young families, the family network links the health and social sectors. Expectant parents and families with small children should find support in stressful life situations at an early stage and unbureaucratically. Since almost all families are in contact with the medical system around the time of birth, Network Family tries to create a bridge to the social system here. By raising awareness and networking, strengthening the backs of families and protecting children are common concerns of the health and social system. Doctors, hospitals and midwives establish contact between the stressed families and the network family with the consent of the parents. The employees of Netzwerk Familie approach families, help those affected in their close social area to find the right help and provide specific support offers. The offer is implemented across the whole of Vorarlberg and financed by the state of Vorarlberg.
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.vorarlberger-kinderdorf.at/presse-und-medien
- ↑ Seal of approval registered under the registration number 05313 .
- ↑ Mission statement of the Vorarlberg Children's Village (PDF file; 1.5 MB)
- ↑ Vorarlberg Children's Rights Prize 2008 (PDF file; 1.84 MB)
- ↑ Award-winning projects in the 2009 volunteering competition, advertised by the Vorarlberg regional government's future office. (PDF file; 5.68 MB)
- ↑ Vorarlberg is the most family-friendly federal state The state award goes to Vorarlberg companies in three out of five categories on the Vorarlberg most family-friendly companies competition page .
- ↑ Presentation of the family network on the Vorarlberg Children's Village website.