Service for children and teenagers with and without special needs.

The “Kinder-, Jugend- und Familienhilfe kreuznacher diakonie” provides sevices for children and teenagers with and without special needs, children at risk of developing a disability as well as children and teenagers with developmental delay and disadvantaged children and teenagers. Services are also offered to the families of the children and adolescents concerned. There are two children´s homes with differentiated services for children living there and for children in day care. Additionally the “Kinder-, Jugend- und Familienhilfe” provides an integrative day care center called “Kinderhaus Arche” where children with and without special needs learn and play together.

Children´s homes in Niederwörresbach and in Rechtenbach

The children´s homes offer children, teenagers and adolescents a new home away from home. Here it is checked if it is possible for the children to return to their original families or if they should rather live with a foster family. It is the goal of the pedagogical work to strengthen the parents´ responsibility and parenting skills and to make help provided a temporary help. Hereby the focus lies on the children´s strengths.

Besides regular groups inside the homes there are external sheltered accommodations. These include a group for families, two groups especially for mothers and their children, a group for children who are likely to return to their original families and only stay  for a  certain time (called “Wochengruppe”) as well as an external group with the aim to reactivate family life.

Both children´s homes also provide places for underage asylum seekers, either for longer stays or as a first temporary accommodation.

To complement offers for accommodations outside their families there are social pedagogical care centers for young children and sheltered housing for older teenagers.

Professional day care teams aim to support the children´s development so they can stay in their families and their social environment. They achieve this through social learning, assistance in school and active involvement of the parents.

Additionally, the “Kinder-, Jugend- und Familienhilfe kreuznacher diakonie” offers all services prescribed in the German Children and Youth Services Act (Gesetz des Kinder- und Jugendhilferechts).

These include

• Social pedagogical assistance for families
• Social work in families
• Family counseling and therapy
• Social work in schools
• Video-home-training
• Supervised or assisted contact/visitations