Your rights in the youth welfare facility
Some children and young people cannot live with their parents.
They may then live in a facility run by child and youth welfare services.
For example: in a residential group.
Perhaps this is the case for you?
If so, you have certain rights.
These rights are laid down in law and apply to everyone.
In this text, we explain
Your rights
If you live in a facility, you have the right to
- feel safe and secure.
- be taken seriously.
- say anything you don’t like.
- have a say in important decisions.
Support
Sometimes this doesn’t work so well.
Perhaps you feel you have been treated unfairly or
are having problems with someone at the facility?
There are people and organizations that can help you.
Here you will find information on where to get support.
The Facility Supervisor
The Facility Supervisor checks that everything is running smoothly in your residential group.
The Facility Supervisor ensures
- that you receive good care.
- that everyone in the facility respects your rights.
Perhaps you have problems or want to complain?
For example:
- Your caregiver at the facility does not take your complaints seriously.
- You are never allowed to participate in decisions in your residential group.
Then you can go to the Facility Supervisor.
Here are the names, telephone numbers, and
email addresses of the Facility Supervisors:
Hildegard Heinen
0421 361 2980
hildegard.heinen@soziales.bremen.de
Karen Hilburg
0421 361 10569
karen.hilburg@soziales.bremen.de
André Rabini
0421 361 31743
andre.rabini@soziales.bremen.de
The Youth Welfare Office
The Youth Welfare Office will help you with any problems you may have at your facility.
You can go to the Youth Welfare Office on your own, even without your parents.
The staff at the Youth Welfare Office will listen to you and help you.
Here you will find the telephone numbers for the Youth Welfare Office in Bremen:
https://www.amtfuersozialedienste.bremen.de/kind-familie/allgemeiner-sozialdienst-junge-menschen-14441
Here you will find the telephone numbers for the Youth Welfare Office in Bremerhaven:https://www.bremerhaven.de/de/verwaltung-politik-sicherheit/buergerservice/adressen-oeffnungszeiten/amt-fuer-jugend-familie-und-frauen-allgemeiner-sozialer-dienst.27725.html
The Ombudsman Service
The Ombudsman Service is a special counseling center in Bremen and Bremerhaven.
Here, children and young people can get help if they have problems
- with the youth welfare office.
- with an institution.
- with a foster family.
The Ombudsman Service does not work for the Youth Welfare Office or your institution.
The staff take you and your problems very seriously.
Consultation at the Ombudsman Service is free of charge.
This is the website of the Ombudsman Service in Bremen and Bremerhaven:
https://bebee-bremen.de/uebersetzungen/en
The Youth Welfare Council
The Youth Welfare Council for Bremen and Bremerhaven is a group of young people
who live in an institution or foster family.
They advocate for the rights of children and young people
who live in institutions.
They represent themselves.
This means that they express their opinions and have a say in decisions.
Children and young people in the state of Bremen have a say
when it comes to important issues in their lives.
This also applies to children and young people
who live in an institution or foster family.
Do you want to change something in your institution?
Do you want to improve the rules in your institution?
Do you think there should be more leisure activities in your institution?
Then get yourself elected to the Youth Welfare Council.
The Laut!Stark office will help you
set up a Youth Welfare Council.
You can find more information here: https://jugendinfo.de/topics/997 (German only)
More information
Are you planning to move out of your residential group or facility soon?
Then you will find important information here:
Link zur eigenen Careleaver*innen-Webseite https://careleaver.de/leichte-sprache/ (German only)
Do you live with a foster family?
Then you have certain rights.
And you can complain
if there are problems with your foster family.
You can find important information about this on this website:
https://www.pib4u.de/deine-rechte/beschwerde-und-feedback/ (German only)
The translation was done using the “DeepL” software.