Evaluation of the pilot project "On-site youth support in pediatric practices"

Some people have unclear ideas about the help available and how youth welfare services work. For example, some parents fear that the youth welfare office will deny them the ability to raise their children and withdraw custody. Many families therefore only find access to youth welfare services when the crisis is obvious. The situation is different in health care. Pediatricians are regularly visited on their own initiative as part of check-ups or for current illnesses and are trusted. During their consultations, they learn a lot about the stresses and strains on the family and recognize developmental risks in children at an early stage. Successful cooperation between them and the youth welfare services could enable the families concerned to be offered tailored help at an early stage. However, practice to date has shown that there are many obstacles to this interdisciplinary cooperation, which lie in the different logics of the youth welfare and health care systems.

Project concept

The "Local youth welfare services in pediatric practices in Dortmund" project aims to (1) reach children and their families in stressful situations at an early stage with low-threshold support services and (2) identify and remove obstacles to cooperation between health care and youth welfare services. These goals are to be achieved by better interlinking pediatricians and youth welfare services in the respective city district by means of a psychosocial counseling service that is installed in local pediatric practices. The evaluation will examine the extent to which these goals have been achieved.

The concept envisages that two educational specialists from the Child Protection Center will offer weekly consultation hours for families in seven pediatric practices in Dortmund and also carry out home visits if required. The educational specialists also act as guides to youth welfare services and independent organizations in the city districts. The psychosocial counseling of the families takes place in close consultation with the participating doctors and their staff.

Methodological approach

Process-accompanying evaluation and reflection meetings
Standardized parent feedback
Expert interviews (pediatricians, employees of youth welfare services)
Documentation of the counseling appointments and content
Final evaluation of the study