Child and youth welfare facilities
XX
A reduction in group size in accordance with the socio-pedagogical findings is
recommended.
XX
In all Laender, children and adolescents should not be cared for in large facilities any
more, but rather in small, family-like residential groups.
XX
As competent authorities for child and youth welfare and protection, the Laender must
ensure that restructuring processes do not come to a standstill before completion.
2.3.10 Different requirements for starting work in the Laender
A focal point of the Federal Children’s and Youth Service Act 2013 was the
professionalisation of the staff. Only qualified and suitable staff, in particular
from the fields of social work, social education, psychology and psychotherapy,
should be employed to work in child and youth welfare as intended by the
legislators. This staff should be offered extra-occupational advance and further
training as well as supervision on a regular basis. The staff must render their
services in compliance with professional standards which are defined in detail
by the Laender.
Focal point of the reform
not implemented
Implementing laws adopted the regulation set forth in the Federal Fundamental
Act according to which child and youth welfare services may only be rendered
by qualified staff. However, the definition of who is qualified staff and under
which conditions differs from Land to Land. For some Laender, these are
exclusively graduates of colleges for social education and of universities of
applied sciences with degrees in social work, as well as persons with university
degrees in psychology, education or psychotherapy. In other Laender,
kindergarten pedagogues, after-school staff, teachers, nurses, social workers,
care staff for persons with disabilities, and youth workers are also recognised
as qualified staff.
Different definition of
qualified staff
Some Laender provide for extra-occupational qualification opportunities. In
Burgenland and Vienna, persons who have no knowledge of education can
work in socio-pedagogical shared accommodations if they begin their training
in the first year of employment and complete this within five years. In Styria,
they have to have completed two-thirds of their training before being allowed
to work. The NPM considers these regulations to be extremely critical. What is
even more difficult to understand is that an extra-occupational qualification
is permissible for staff in socio-pedagogical and socio-psychiatric shared
accommodations. In Vienna, these shared accommodations in which the
most challenging children and adolescents live are run by private operators
for example. They are free to hire staff who have not completed any pedagogic
training. In the facilities of the Viennese Municipal Department 11 (MA 11),
by contrast, only social pedagogues who have completed their training are
allowed to work.
No qualified personnel
77
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents