Children & youth welfare
Building communities of responsibility for every child
Quo vadis, child and youth welfare? Jugend am Werk Steiermark focuses on professional support and further development. The company set the tone in 2024 with the Spurwechsel conference and is far from stopping there: Helene Grasser, Head of Child and Youth Welfare, looks back and talks about plans for the coming year.
Ms. Grasser, the year is almost over - what has happened at Jugend am Werk this year in terms of child and youth welfare?
A central focus was on the further development of our locations and services. This includes mobile support services for families, but also residential services. For example, mobile assisted living (MOB) for young people aged 16 and over who can no longer live at home for various reasons. Jugend am Werk Steiermark rents apartments for this purpose, in which the young people live independently with the support of our mobile caregivers. We are now able to offer this service throughout Styria. In addition to implementing these child and youth welfare services, professional exchange is also important to us. As one of the largest social welfare providers in Styria, we not only take part in the debate - we also initiate it.
What does this kind of discourse look like?
This year, we organized the symposium "Spurwechsel - Neue Wege in der stationären Kinder- und Jugendhilfe" and brought renowned experts from Austria and abroad to Graz. One of the speakers was Mathias Schwabe, Professor of Social Work at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences in Berlin. He spoke about how (im)possible solutions in child and youth welfare must be sought jointly by experts in order to create services for so-called "system disruptors". An important professional impulse! With around 250 visitors, the event was a complete success.
What exactly are "system disrupters" and what does Jugend am Werk do in this area?
The term refers to children and young people who have already been excluded from several socio-educational care services, i.e. who break out of these systems. They often exhibit challenging behavior and need more support than they can get in larger groups. These children and young people repeatedly experience relationship breakdowns, which reinforces their self-image of rejection, exclusion and loss of attachment. At Jugend am Werk, we develop flexible and individually tailored care concepts for these young people. We focus on relationship continuity in order to be able to offer them a safe place in the long term. This is not easy work, but it is an enormously important task.
Let's now look a little further into the future: where does child and youth welfare need to develop in the future?
Child and youth welfare can only be successful if everyone involved pulls together. This includes cooperation with independent providers and authorities as well as close integration of the individual services: Mobile, outpatient help, which provides support directly in families, must be closely networked with inpatient forms of care. This development towards integrated, flexible outpatient and inpatient child and youth services is a major concern for us. We must work even harder towards a community of responsibility for every child, every young person, every family.
Let's stay with the keyword "build": How will Jugend am Werk continue in the area of child and youth welfare?
We always respond to the needs in the regions. In the coming year, for example, we will be opening new locations in Kobenz and Deutschlandsberg because inpatient facilities are needed. There will be 9 places each in residential youth groups for children and young people aged 5 to 15. Further locations and services are already being planned, but are not yet ready to go ahead.
Will the new locations also mean there is a need for new employees?
We welcome new colleagues who want to contribute their ideas to our child and youth welfare services. Our work is based on modern professional approaches and continuous development through regular training and further education. Particularly important to us is the in-depth basic training in child and youth welfare that all new employees complete - this is how we ensure high quality standards in support and create a strong basis for professional action.
Last question: What is particularly important to you in child and youth welfare, where do we need to go in the future?
The most important thing is that we take the opportunities and resources of children, young people and families seriously. At Jugend am Werk, we therefore work on the empowerment and participation of children and young people. Because in the end, everyone decides for themselves what a successful life is. We are only there to accompany them part of the way in challenging situations.
Info & Contact
Jugend am Werk Styria GmbH
Lendplatz 35
8020 Graz
Phone: +43(0)50/7900-0
E-mail: office@jaw.or.at
Website: www.jaw.or.at
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