According to the State Statistical Office in Baden-Württemberg, 16,727 risk assessment procedures for children and young people were carried out in accordance with Section 8a (1) SGB VIII in 2021. These take place when the youth welfare office becomes aware of important indications that a child is at risk. The youth welfare office then gets an immediate impression of the affected children or young people and their personal environment.
After examining the suspicion, the following need for help was determined for the 16,727 procedures carried out:
- 5,636 cases without child endangerment and without need for help (34%),
- 5,879 cases without endangering the welfare of the child with a need for assistance (35%),
- 2 493 cases of latent child endangerment (15%) and
- 2,719 cases of acute child endangerment (16%).
Of the 5,212 children identified as being at acute or latent risk in 2021, 19% were under 3 years old. Another 19% were of kindergarten age between 3 and under 6 years. School-age children (6 years and older) accounted for 62% of children identified as at risk of child welfare. Overall, 51% of those at risk were boys and 49% girls, whereby it can be seen that up to the age of 12 boys were affected more frequently (54%) and from the age of 13 girls were more frequently affected (59%).1
Signs of neglect were found in a good 42% of the cases with an acute or latent threat to the well-being of the child, in 31% psychological abuse, in 22% physical abuse(s) and in 4% of the cases sexual violence. While the proportion of children under the age of 3 who were neglected was comparatively high at 53%, signs of physical abuse were found to be above average, especially among girls aged 12 and over (25%).
If the number of cases is related to the underage population in Baden-Württemberg, it shows that in 2021, 27 out of 10,000 people under the age of 18 were found to be acutely or latently endangering their well-being. Among the urban and rural districts, the urban district of Karlsruhe had the highest value with 107 dangers per 10,000 minors. There was the least risk in the districts of Göppingen and Ravensburg, each with 5 cases per 10,000 people under the age of 18.
