Good child protection procedures

E-learning, child protection proceedings, family court, child-friendly justice

01.06.2019-30.09.2023

Background

In child protection proceedings, family court judges make decisions that have a significant impact on the future lives of children and their parents. The courts rely on the support and expertise of youth welfare offices, guardians ad litem and experts. Parents need a lawyer at their side. Occasionally, other professionals and healthcare professionals play a role in the proceedings as expert witnesses. More recently, the systematic review of child protection cases that have become known throughout Germany, such as the Staufen abuse case, has made it clear what high demands child protection proceedings place on the family court and all professions involved and has also emphasised the need for interdisciplinary training and further education.

Goal and target group

The aim of the project was to develop a web-based interdisciplinary training programme on the topic of "family court proceedings in child protection cases and child-friendly justice". The target groups of the training programme were family court judges, employees from youth welfare offices and educational support agencies involved in child protection proceedings, as well as guardians ad litem, family psychology experts and family law specialists.

An online course was developed for this target group to provide relevant information on the general course of child protection proceedings and the parties involved. At the same time, regional specialist conferences were held in selected model regions to promote interdisciplinary cooperation and the possibilities of implementing child-friendly framework conditions. An in-depth module in the online course was also available for participants in the model regions. This dealt with the preparation of the "Opinion of experts for the protection against violence" described in the coalition agreement, including with regard to the youth welfare office's referral to the family court in accordance with Section 8a (2) SGB VIII.

Model regions

Regions interested in participating in the project as model locations were able to apply during the summer of 2020. The selected model locations included

Accompanying research and course runs

The online course was continuously evaluated in an accompanying research design and revised on this basis. The specialist conferences at the model locations were also evaluated. A total of 1,439 people successfully completed the online course over the course of the project. The evaluation showed a high level of satisfaction among graduates with the learning platform and the quality and relevance of the learning materials. There was a subjective increase in knowledge and skills among the participating professional groups. In addition, the e-learning learning method was seen as a suitable form of further training on this topic. The participants stated that the time spent on the online course was worthwhile. This demonstrated the effectiveness of the online course in terms of the acquisition of knowledge and skills, the practical relevance of the learning content and the dissemination of the learning content into professional practice.

With the completion of the project, a high-quality and scientifically evaluated further training programme is therefore available for all professionals to acquire basic knowledge and skills in the field of interdisciplinary child protection.

Continuation of the online course

Participation in the online course "Good Child Protection Procedures" will be possible from February 2024 for a participation fee via the Saarland Child Protection Platform(https://kinderschutz-im-saarland.de/).

Fegert, Jörg M.; Schumann, Eva; Kindler, Heinz; Meysen, Thomas; Hoffmann, Ulrike (2019). Good child protection proceedings - an online course for actors in family court proceedings. Forum Family Law 12/2019, pp. 471-474.

Fegert, Jörg M.; Schumann, Eva; Kindler, Heinz; Meysen, Thomas; Hoffmann, Ulrike (2020). Good child protection procedures - an interdisciplinary online course. JAmt issue 3/2020, pp. 132-134.

Meysen T, Krutzinna J (2020): Family court child protection in Germany - an international comparison on the occasion of the "Staufen abuse case". Forum Family Law, 1, 14-18.

Fegert, Jörg M., Schumann, Eva, Kindler, Heinz, Meysen, Thomas (2021). Good child protection procedures. Publications from the online course "Good Child Protection Procedures".

Safarian, Ofelia; Zimmermann, Lea, Fegert, Jörg M. (2022). Good Child Protection and the Current Reform of Child Cases. Realigning knowledge transfer by means of an interdisciplinary e-learning programme. Forum Family Law 10/2022, pp. 396-401

Safarian, Ofelia (2022). Kindgerechte Verfahren - Anspruch und Wirklichkeit in Kindschaftssachen, conference report on the 18th Göttingen Workshop on Family Law 2021. JAmt Heft 3/2022, p. 141 f.

Chauviré-Geib, Katrin; Kadera, Stepanka; Hoffmann, Ulrike; Fegert, Jörg M. (2023). Strengthening the competences of employees of the youth welfare office and child and youth welfare services in family court child protection proceedings through e-learning. Initial results of the interdisciplinary training programme "Good child protection procedures". JAmt issue 9/2023, pp. 382-387.

Kadera, Stepanka; Chauviré-Geib, Katrin; Kindler, Heinz; Fegert, Jörg M. (2023). E-learning to strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation in child protection proceedings. Evaluation of the BMFSFJ-funded joint project "Good child protection procedures". Journal for child law and youth welfare

Fegert, Jörg M.; Meysen, Thomas; Kindler, Heinz; Chauviré-Geib, Katrin; Hoffmann, Ulrike; Schumann, Eva (2023). Good child protection procedures. Factual foundations, legal framework and co-operation in family court proceedings. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg (in preparation)

good-procedure[at]elearning-kinderschutz.de

Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ)