Authors: Holzheimer RG, Ballhorn D.
Introduction: The number of children and young people being taken into care and placed in out-of-home care has been increasing in Germany for years - despite or perhaps because of child protection reforms. Child protection is always questioned when cases of child abuse become public. Child protection without taking children into care is hard to imagine. Child protection can be violated through unjustified detention. This usually receives little attention.
Methodology: Examination of the keywords “taking into care”, “out-of-home care”, “effect” and “side effects” of “taking into care” by the “Youth Welfare Office” in “Germany” in Pubmed, Google Scholar, and Google.
Results: The number of people taken into care increased after the change in child protection regulations for the youth welfare office in 2005: from 25,664 in 2009 to 66,400 in 2022. Apart from the unaccompanied entry of children in 2022 (28,600), 22,900 cases were due to excessive demands and relationship problems of the parents, and 18,500 cases were due to neglect, and physical and psychological abuse as the reason for being taken into care. The classification of cases varies greatly depending on the social worker's opinion. There are considerable differences in the assessment of the risk situation and the resulting decision to take someone into care. Depending on the federal state, the number of times taken into care and the duration of out-of-home care vary due to different interpretations of guidelines and the requirements of service instructions. The main problem is the high number of false-positive assessments of threats to children's well-being in connection with the ignorance of the effects and side effects of taking children into
care, which is described as a social-educational measure. Anglo-American studies of children in foster families and homes found these children to have post-traumatic stress disorders, an increased risk of serious illnesses, hindrance to participation in social life with inability to go to school, and limitations in their ability to work. Many illnesses only appear in adulthood. The effects of being taken into care can endanger a young person's existence. Even the Federal Constitutional Court 11/2023 points out the negative effects of being taken into care. This causes material and immaterial damage to children and families and puts a strain on the public health system and the national economy.
Conclusion: Child protection must be oriented towards children and not adults, authorities, and institutions. Taking children into care, without even knowing or taking into account the effects of false-positive risk prognoses, that is described as a social educational measure, that is stigmatizing and associated with the loss of basic rights of children and parents, given the damage to children and families, as well as the burden of the public health system and the national economy, cannot be accepted.