() is a German agency set up to promote the welfare of children. Each district () or district-free city () has its own . Its structure is flat, with no centralised (state or federal) coordinating office. In Germany the youth offices were created during Weimar Republic by the Reich Youth Welfare Act () of 1922, in force since 1924. Since the local organizations function independently there is no federal administrative supervision.
Statistics The Federal Statistics Bureau () shows a steep rise in the number of children with problems taken by yearly into safeguarding. 23,432 in 1995 25,664 in 2005 77,645 in 2015 61,383 in 2017
The main reason for this is the high number of unaccompanied child refugees, who are by law required to be taken into safeguard by a (e.g. 45,000 in 2016). Among the children (age 0–13) more than 50% return to their parents within two weeks.
See also Children's rights European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights Human rights in Germany Parliamentary Petitions Office Helmut Kentler
Similar organizations in other countries and Netherlands Child Protective Services USA Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service England and Wales Norwegian Child Welfare Services
References
External links General Jugendamt website in German language with an English brochure Jugendamt - What youth welfare offices do (pdf) The Bamberg Declaration , adopted in the framework of the international symposium on "German youth welfare offices and the European Convention on Human Rights" Bamberg, 20/21 October 2007, Chair: Annelise Oeschger, President of the International Nongovernmental Organizations Conference of the Council of Europe (INGO) Individual UPR Submission by the League for Rights