Parenting Counseling Centers; Applying for Financial Assistance

Purpose

Through this funding program, the Free State of Bavaria supports the counties and independent cities that, in cooperation with private youth welfare organizations, maintain educational counseling centers in sufficient numbers and in a manner appropriate to local needs to fulfill the following tasks.

Scope

Eligible activities include:

• Support for family-based child-rearing (Section 16 of Book VIII of the Social Code),
• Counseling on issues related to relationships, separation, and divorce (Section 17 of Book VIII of the Social Code),
• Counseling and support in the exercise of parental care (Section 18 of Book VIII of the Social Code),
• Parenting counseling (Section 28 of Book VIII of the Social Code, taking into account Sections 27, 36, and 41 of Book VIII of the Social Code),
• Integration assistance for children and adolescents with mental disabilities (Section 35a(1)(1) of Book VIII of the Social Code).

Grant Recipients

Funding is provided to the operators of parenting counseling centers that are part of local basic psychosocial care and crisis assistance for young people and families.

Eligible Costs

Funding is provided for personnel expenses related to

• preventive support for family-based child-rearing, particularly in stressful situations
• preventive outreach work, particularly collaboration with daycare centers, schools, family education centers, early intervention centers, family courts, and self-help groups (e.g., single parents, foster and/or adoptive parents), as well as community-based approaches,
• outreach parenting counseling in locations where children and their families spend time, as well as mandatory cooperation with institutions and services in the youth welfare, health, justice, and school systems to ensure the lowest possible barriers to access and, when necessary, comprehensive support for children and families. 
• Online digital counseling services,
• information sessions and public outreach,
• psychological and psychosocial assessment,
• support, improvement, and stabilization of the development and social integration of young people with special difficulties or traumatic experiences such as emotional, physical, and sexual violence,
• short-term crisis intervention,
• Clarification and support in resolving intrafamilial relationship conflicts or conflicts between parents and their impact on children, particularly in cases of separation or divorce,
• Support in developing a mutually agreed-upon plan for the exercise of parental care, in implementing visitation arrangements in a child-friendly manner, and in facilitating visitation contacts (custody and visitation mediation),
• Recommendation of supplementary or further measures or assistance, with the timely involvement of the Youth Welfare Office as soon as a need for assistance under Sections 27 et seq. of SGB VIII or Section 35a of SGB VIII becomes apparent,
• Participation in the development, implementation, and review of the assistance plan in accordance with § 36 SGB VIII, to the extent that educational counseling services are to be provided,
• Cooperation with other relevant disciplines, including those outside the field of child and youth welfare,
• Quality assurance, in particular cost-benefit efficiency and assessment of the effectiveness of measures and results (evaluation).

Type and Amount

Funding is provided in the form of a grant.

Funding is provided as a fixed-amount grant within the framework of a project grant.

Organizations that operate parenting counseling centers are eligible to apply. All funded parenting counseling centers must meet the following funding requirements:

• The counseling center must have a professional and multidisciplinary staff consisting of youth welfare specialists,
• a completed university degree in psychology or psychotherapy, or a university degree in social pedagogy at the master’s or bachelor’s level (formerly “Diplom”),
• other professionals with degrees in the social sciences, education, or medicine, as well as those with degrees in special education, may also be considered if their qualifications strengthen the center’s professional profile,
• comparable foreign degrees may also be considered regardless of state recognition; the professional assessment of such degrees is the responsibility of the respective educational counseling center in collaboration with the public youth welfare agency,
• Staffing of a counseling center with at least three professional staff positions and an appropriate level of team support.

The team of specialists should hold a variety of relevant degrees to ensure a multidisciplinary staff composition. Care should be taken to ensure an appropriate proportion of university degrees at the master’s level.

Applications may be submitted for a period of up to two years. The application from the operator of the educational counseling center must be submitted to the responsible youth welfare office in a timely manner, either electronically or in writing, using the form available from the competent approving authority, along with the required application documents. In the event of cooperation with another organization operating counseling centers, the nature and scope of such cooperation must be described. The youth welfare office forwards the application to the approving authority before the start of the approval period. In doing so, it provides a brief assessment of the organization’s eligibility for funding and the nature and scope of its cooperation with the organization. If a county or an independent city operates its own educational counseling center, its applications must also be forwarded to the authorizing authority before the start of the authorization period.

At this time, no additional parenting counseling centers will be included in the funding program (see Section 4.3 of the guidelines)!

There are no set deadlines for this grant.

• Required document(s)
  
  • Application for a State Grant: Funding Program: Support for Parenting Counseling Centers
  • Personnel costs for permanent staff: Attachment 1 to the application for approval
  • Cost Overview: Appendix 2 to the Application for Approval
  • Financing Plan: Attachment 3 to the Application for Approval