1. Integrated Service Centers („Familienzentren“) in North Rhine-Westphalia / Germany A political strategy for Children and Youth Welfare Politics Karin Altgeld Institute for Work, Skills and Training Gelsenkirchen/Germany

2. Agenda oFramework of the policy field early childhood education and care in Germany oBackground of the „Integrated Service Centers “ oStrategy to build up „Integrated Service Centers“ oChallenges and Approaches

3. Germany: Context & Basic Conditions oGermany as a federal state; only some political responsibilities on the federal state level concerning school and youth welfare services oSchool and youth services are two separate political areas oPlurality of providers, following the principle of subsidiarity oLegal entitlement to a place in a child care site at the age of 3 => Obligatory school attendance at the age of 6

4. Germany: Issues & Challenges oAspect of early learning & education in child care sector is considerably underdeveloped oFlexible opening hours, responsive to the need of families (flexibility is underdeveloped, normally from 7.00am – 4.30 pm; long holiday time, ca. 5 weeks per year) oExtension of care for Under-3 year olds =>Demand is mostly satisfied by intransparent, grey market of family day care oPlurality of providers together with federalism leads to significant problems in the governance structure

5. Germany: Issues & Challenges oChild care centers belong to the „weak“ policy field of youth services; preschool programs do not exist =>massiv tensions between political fields of school and youth welfare service beside health oFurthermore a massiv lack in collaboration between social and health services

6. Key points to the political strategy “Integrated Service Centers” o Initiated by the Department for Generations, Families, Women and Integration of the federal state North Rhine-Westphalia o Statewide contest for the pilot program: development of 250 childcare facilites into “Family Centers“; 2006/2007 750 will follow o One third of 9.000 child care sites in North Rhine-Westfalia are turned into “Family Centers“ until 2012

7. Objectives of the integrated service centers Creating a network of family support services for all families (not only families with special needs)  Childcare site as a “service hub“: widely accepted by parents, easy accessibility Comprehensive provision of integrated services (care, education, social, health and family services) Collaboration among different professionals for service provision, responding to the needs of all children and families (not only social disadvantaged) Establishing a balance between work and family, improving and extending the range of services

8. Early Support &Intervention Family / Adult Education Health Services Primary School Churches Public bodies & Supporting Organisations Counselling Agencies Associations Childcare Site

9. Incentives for Organisational Development o Funding: Annual funding for each „Family Center“ € 12.000 (~ US $19.000) o Family Centers gain image and recognition through the establishment of a professional service structure (parents; politics; cooperating actors) o Certification process by external evaluation, quality label leads to authorisation with the title „Familienzentrum, NRW“ o New Law in reference to finance structure of all childcare sites

10. Systematics of the Quality Label Part A: service sections (contents of service provision in the Family Center) 1)Counseling and support for children and families 2)Family education and educational partnerships 3)Day care 4)Reconciliation of work and family life

11. Systematics of the Quality Label II Part B: structural sections (focus on „how“ the Family Center establishes the preconditions for the services) 1)Linkages to social infrastructure 2)Cooperation and Organisation 3)Communication 4)Evolution of services and self-evaluation

12. Rating System o In each service or structural section a maximum of 6 points can be reached => i.e. a maximum of 48 points in total o prerequisite for the attainment of the quality label are at least 24 points o the service / structural section gets approved for the quality label, when at least 3 points in at least each of 3 service and structural sections are being reached

13. Rating System Part A: service sections 1 Point: 2 basic services 2 Points: 3 or 4 basic services 3 Points: at least 5 of 8 basic services 4 Points: at least 3 further basic or additional services 5 Points:at least 6 further basic or additional services 6 Points:at least 8 further basic or additional services

14. Example: basic services of the service section: 1. Counseling and support for children and families 1.1 Recent index of counseling and therapy facilities 1.2Index of medical support 1.3 Mitarbeiter/in has additional qualification „intercultural opening“ 1.4Parent-child groups for Under-3 yearolds 1.5Guidance of parents through a counseling process 1.6 Public consultation-hour for educational counseling 1.7Carrying out developmental screenings 1.8 Visiting work with parents

15. Example: basic services of the service section: 1.Counseling and support for children and families 1.9 Language support during transition phase childcare site- elementary school 1.10 Language support together with children and parents 1.11 Individual educational counseling by professionals on-site 1.12 Targeted collaboration with pediatricians 1.13 Counseling for topics apart from education and care; e.g. credit counseling …

16. Fields of Development o Leadership development; in many cases lead staff see themselves as teachers in a child care site without a leadership role; providers are often too far awav from the base o Qualification of pedagogical professionals, corresponding to increasing managerial tasks o Improvement of the governance-structure, strenghtening the federal level (e.g. by a treaty)

17. Fields of Development II o Improvement of specialst counseling for childcare sites (e.g. coaching/supervision) o „More“ available resources in the child care site (only 0,4 % of GDP flow into the pre-primary sector – OECD recommendation: 1 %)

18. THANK YOU! Contact: Karin Altgeld Instiute for Work, Skills and Tranining at the University of Duisburg-Essen Munscheidstraße 14 45886 Gelsenkirchen - Germany E-Mail: karin.altgeld@uni-due.de Tel.: +49-209-1707-283