All children and young people should be allowed to develop into confident, independent individuals. This involves ensuring that children and young people know their rights, that they are included in the policy-making process and that their interests are considered in policy-making.
Support from External Experts
The Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend (Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth) relies to some extent on external expertise. In the governments reports on children and youth, independent experts regularly analyse the real-life situation of young people. These reports form an important foundation for national policy on children and youth. The Bundesjugendkuratorium (Federal Youth Board) is an independent panel of experts who advise the Federal Government in matters of children's and youth welfare, and also on current policy issues concerning children and young people.
JUGEND STÄRKEN Initiative
The Ministry's youth promotion initiative, JUGEND STÄRKEN (Encouraging Youth), consolidates existing programmes for young people from disadvantaged families and for young adults with migrant backgrounds (ages 12 to 26) who experience difficulties in transitioning from school to the working world.
JUGEND STÄRKEN im Quartier
The model programme JUGEND STÄRKEN im Quartier (supporting young people in deprived neighbourhoods) supports local authorities in deprived neighbourhoods in efforts to help socially or personally disadvantaged young people to enter school, vocational training or employment. A further goal is to optimise existing structures for cooperation between public and independent youth welfare organisations, schools, employment agencies, job centres and community managers. The programme provides young people with one-on-one counselling and support. Additional social or environment-focused micro-projects aim at improving young people's social skills as well as conditions in deprived communities.
JUGEND STÄRKEN is implemented in conjunction with the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and is financed via the European Social Fund. The first pilot phase ran from 2015 to 2018; the second phase runs from 2019 to 2021.
JUGEND STÄRKEN: Brücken in die Eigenständigkeit
From 2022 to 2027, under the ESF Plus pilot programme "Encouraging youth by building bridges to independence", the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth is supporting 75 municipalities in implementing projects for the benefit of 14 to 26-year-olds who need support on account of not yet being able to lead an independent life and/or homelessness (esp. care leavers, detached young people). Participants receive socio-educational support over a longer period of time to manage and shape spheres of life such as housing, finances, social relations and education in their best interests.
As stable and secure housing arrangements are essential for all further developments and as it is becoming increasingly difficult for the target groups on the tight rental market in Germany to rent a flat, the topic of housing plays a crucial role in the programme. Under the programme, 24 municipalities are implementing housing projects, i.e. they are testing forms of housing for young people that do not yet exist in the respective municipality. This includes Housing First approaches.
Jugendmigrationsdienste
Throughout the country, almost 500 Jugendmigrationsdienste (Youth Migration Services) advise young people with migrant backgrounds and need help in the transition from school to vocational education and training or to full-time work. The Youth Migration Services also offer socio-educational support to young people before, during and after they attend integration and language courses.
They also advise parents of young migrants on matters of education and vocational education and training. The Youth Migration Services are part of a local network and cooperate with other services and organisations.
The online advisory service jmd4you offers professional, anonymous and multilingual support on the web.
Respekt Coaches
Respekt Coaches (Respect Coaches) support schools in teaching the value of a non-violent, democratic and pluralistic society. Respekt Coaches work with groups of students to strengthen their resilience and self-awareness as well as interreligious and intercultural competences, regardless of their origin or backgrounds. They cooperate with organisations that offer civic education, radicalisation prevention as well as youth work in general. Respekt Coaches have a social pedagogical background and may support individual students.
Over 200 Respekt Coaches currently work with approximately 300 schools nationwide. Respekt Coaches are part of the organisational structure of the Youth Migration Services.
Jugendschutzgesetz
Germany's Jugendschutzgesetz (Youth Protection Act) is on the one hand designed to protect children and young people in the public sphere. It regulates the sale and consumption of tobacco, electronic cigarettes, electronic shishas and alcohol, and the entry to nightclubs and bars. The Youth Protection Act targets retailers, the hospitality and catering sector and the organisers of public events, placing them under obligation to protect children and young people from potential risk. At the same time, it provides parents with valuable guidance on bringing up and protecting their children.
Also governed by the Act are age ratings for films and computer games and the process for the indexing of films, DVDs and online services by the Bundeszentrale für Kinder- und Jugendmedienschutz (Federal Agency for Child and Youth Protection in the Media).
In addition, the Youth Protection Act requires film and gaming platforms to label their content with age ratings. The Federal Agency for Child and Youth Protection in the Media oversees the platform providers’ measures. These are required under the Digital Services Act to ensure that their service is safe when used by minors. This includes effective prevention measures such as reporting systems or independent advice and support services. Moreover, age verification is a key component for child safety on onlineplattforms.
Safe Use of Online Media in Childhood
Digital media have become an integral part of life for children and young people today. Like no other generation, almost all of today’s young people regularly go online, and most of those using the internet do so via mobile devices like smartphones. Even small children use apps and computer games. This trend poses a range of challenges, both in family-based media education and use, and in providing contemporary media-based protection for young people. With the following initiatives and publications, among others, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth aims to promote a safe and healthy use of online media by children and young people:
- The media guide