Working together for the well-being of children and young people
How child and youth welfare professionals can successfully work together with parents was the central topic of the "Parents in educational support" symposium, which took place on September 14, 2023 at Münster University of Applied Sciences in cooperation with Fachhochschule Dortmund.
Whether educational counseling, care in a day group or placement in a residential group - if parents need support in dealing with their children, they are legally entitled to individual assistance measures, known as educational support. At the nationwide symposium, around 130 professionals from youth welfare offices and independent youth welfare organizations discussed how parents can be more involved and involved in the design of assistance. Students and some parents whose children live in youth welfare residential groups also took part in the event.
In her welcoming speech, Prof. Dr. Michaela Berghaus (Faculty of Social Sciences, Münster University of Applied Sciences), together with parents and students, shed light on how parents experience the encounter with youth welfare services in family crises and conflicts. Prof. Dr. Remi Stork (also from the Faculty of Social Welfare, Münster University of Applied Sciences), Prof. Dr. Nicole Knuth (Faculty of Social Sciences, Fachhochschule Dortmund) and other experts from academia and practice used specific examples in inputs and workshops to take a closer look at the interaction between professionals and parents.
Students from Münster University of Applied Sciences (supervised by Prof. Remi Stork and Michaela Berghaus) and Fachhochschule Dortmund University of Applied Sciences (supervised by Prof. Dr. Nicole Knuth) played a key role in preparing the symposium: In two seminars, they conducted interviews with parents about their experiences of working with youth welfare services and worked with them to create films, a comic and a photo documentary, among other things. In addition, demands for new forms of cooperation between parents and professionals were presented in the form of role plays. These were presented on the large stage in the lecture hall and met with a great response. "The curiosity of the professionals about the students' experiences was impressive and the students in turn were very enthusiastic about the great interest in their results," said co-organizer Prof. Dr. Remi Stork.
In addition to the two universities of applied sciences, the symposium was organized by the Federal Network for Parent and Family Policy in Child and Youth Welfare (BEFKJ e.V.) in cooperation with the Department of Continuing Education at the Faculty of Social Sciences.
Tip for further reading
Handbook for parents in educational support. Edited by: Josef Faltermeier, Nicole Knuth, Remi Stork (Beltz Juventa) 2022
Prof. Nicole Knuth, Dr.
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