As of: January 30, 2024, 9:46 a.m
By: Jonas Napiletzki
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Disagreed with the SPD parliamentary group spokeswoman: the youth and family department at the district office.
The authority rejects almost all criticisms.
© Thomas Plettenberg
According to statistics from 2021, the Miesbach district spends the least money per capita on youth welfare in Upper Bavaria.
The SPD parliamentary group spokeswoman criticizes.
District
– Does the district spend less money on youth welfare than is necessary?
District councilor and SPD parliamentary group spokeswoman Christine Negele suggests this assumption.
It raises the question of why the number of cases (see box) is partly falling despite an increasing need for support - and fears that the youth welfare office is overlooking the long-term consequences of the pandemic.
The youth and family department in the district office firmly rejects these allegations.
When asked by our newspaper, a spokeswoman for the district authority said that, as in the previous year, the budget funds had been meticulously calculated - based on the number of cases.
“It is incomprehensible that there would not be enough funds for our needs,” explains the youth welfare office.
Increasing demand as a long-term consequence of Corona
Negele sees it differently.
As a social worker in a psychosomatic clinic in Bad Tölz, she knows the development from practice.
“In everyday clinical practice, I have noticed an increase in the number of cases in inpatient treatment,” explains the SPD politician.
Children and young people were alone at home for a long time during the Corona crisis - which was not without consequences for many.
“In psychosomatics, the number of young adults who come to us with anxiety and panic disorders or depression is increasing.” Many of the patients come from Munich and only a few from the immediate surrounding area.
“But if you look at the PISA study and listen to what teachers say, then you know that there is a significant need for support,” emphasizes Negele.
The cases that are not dealt with by the schools or parents are the responsibility of the youth welfare office.
But the number of cases there is falling, says Negele.
No necessarily related to help cases
“We can confirm the impression of the increased number of mental illnesses,” replies the youth welfare office.
This is also reflected in the increasing inpatient needs of children whose parents are unable to provide them with child-friendly care.
However, the youth welfare office looks at the statistics separately.
On the one hand, the new specialist software “OK.JUS” would no longer record all the people involved in helping families, but only a specific person.
“The number of cases per se has not decreased, only the method of counting has changed,” explains the youth welfare office.
This refers to social-educational family assistance and educational assistance (see box).
On the other hand, mental illnesses do not necessarily trigger a need for youth assistance, explains the office.
Therapies would initially be financed by health insurance companies.
And not every family is looking for, needs or wants the support of youth welfare services.
Outpatient cases have been rising again since the end of the Corona restrictions - “but not yet at the level of the situation before the pandemic”.
Low expenses compared to Upper Bavaria
Negele also supports her assumption that the numbers do not correspond to demand with another statistic.
This compares the expenditure on youth welfare in 2021 for Upper Bavarian districts.
Miesbach brought up the rear with just under 97 euros per resident.
The district is also in last place per capita for those up to 18 years old with just under 580 euros.
On average, Upper Bavaria's districts spent just under 146 or around 829 euros per capita, depending on how they were counted.
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Christine Negele (SPD) sees deficits in youth welfare.
© Thomas Plettenberg
Negele concludes that she identified two reasons for what she saw as too few cases of help being provided: a lack of staff and a lack of youth welfare planning.
“We would have to look beyond Bavaria’s borders at models and concepts about how integrative youth welfare works,” explains the district councilor.
But planning did not begin until 2022.
The implementation would lie in the future and would then depend on the staff available, says Negele.
And there is a “downward spiral” in personnel supply: not enough applicants are being found for the youth welfare offices.
Employees are overloaded and are therefore looking for other jobs.
+++ Read also: Youth welfare expenses in the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district have been rising for years - this also applies to 2024. +++
Disagreement about processing times
This means that processing times are also very long.
“We are releasing more and more patients who need help without any prospect of help,” says the social worker.
In the usual ten to twelve weeks of stay at the clinic in Bad Tölz, only an initial contact is made.
And when families are granted parental assistance, it is often only for one to two years.
“That’s not helpful if we have these children in the hospital at some point.”
The youth welfare office counters that the internal specification for processing times for a regular application is six to eight weeks.
“In a large proportion of cases, this time can be significantly shortened.” Two or three weeks are usual.
If children's welfare is at risk, help would sometimes be approved the next day, or at least in the same week.
Once the case is with the facilities, the department no longer has any influence on the times.
The limited duration of the help is intentional, as the office shows: “The aim of youth welfare is always to help people help themselves.” The spokeswoman says that aid that runs for a long time should be questioned as to its success.
Otherwise you run the risk of ending up in learned helplessness.
According to the youth welfare office, the target group is reached
The authority rejects the fact that the help often does not arrive because of youth welfare planning, as Negele explained.
While Negele fears that the inhibition threshold is too high and that families with less education would not even find out about the offers, the youth welfare office says: “The department draws attention to its services in numerous kindergartens and schools.” The advisory centers in the district would also refer to this if necessary.
“Thanks to the department’s good and wide-ranging network, many citizens can be reached,” explains the authority spokeswoman.
She cites youth social work as well as the police, doctors and internal administrative bodies as further examples.
Negele agrees with SPD district councilor Elisabeth Dasch, who sits on the youth welfare committee, that the planning should take place there.
Dasch sees the committee on the right track.
But: “Of course it doesn’t happen overnight.” Negele is therefore hoping for faster improvements.
“I'm in politics as a social worker because I don't just want to stick plasters, I want to change the cause.
But it’s a tough place sometimes.” nap
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