Pilot project against youth violence to be extended to the whole of Berlin

Martina Kirstan (l), head of the Youth Court Services, speaks next to Katrin Dettmer, acting head of the Youth Welfare Office.

A care and prevention model for juvenile offenders from Neukölln is to be expanded to the whole of Berlin with money from the Senate.

For the implementation, the Senate wants to spend 2.6 million euros in each of the next two years and thus also support the districts. This was announced by Education and Youth Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch and Youth State Secretary Falko Liecke (both CDU) on Tuesday during a visit to a youth welfare facility in Neukölln. The money comes from the pot that was decided upon at a summit meeting on youth violence after the riots on New Year's Eve.

Neukölln action concept targets juvenile multiple offenders

"The demonstrably successful Neukölln action concept works with particularly difficult young people," said Günther-Wünsch. These are 11- to 17-year-old children and youths who have already attracted attention with multiple offences such as fights and thefts, attend school only sporadically and also have massive problems in other ways. Since 2017, all responsible authorities in Neukölln, such as youth welfare offices, schools, social pedagogues, police, judiciary, youth welfare and foreigners authorities, have been working very closely together to prevent and prevent a further slide into serious crime.

Rapid exchange between actors involved

A special point here is the rapid exchange of information between police and youth welfare offices, for example, which Neukölln introduced. For this, the parents of young offenders must consent and data protection officers must agree. Only then can all those involved in the authorities coordinate their actions, consult in case conferences and inform each other about what is to happen to a criminal youth and his family. The work is coordinated by a "juvenile delinquency team", as it is now called.

Pilot project to be expanded city-wide

Senator Günther-Wünsch emphasised: "This successful model has great potential for other districts and will be expanded city-wide. Young people need to be reached earlier in their neighbourhoods in order to work with them and their parents in a preventive way. The support provided by the intervention teams is completed when no new offences have been committed for a year and a future perspective has been clarified. The Senate Education Department said: "Through the pilot project developed in 2016, more than 100 violent young people have already been successfully cared for, and the dropout rate is low at 11 people since 2017."