Measured in terms of the number of facilities and employees, child and youth work in Germany is not in a good state: In the period from 1998 to 2014, the number of facilities fell from 12,164 to 10,390. 1 The number of full-time equivalents – the arithmetical full-time positions that result from mixed staffing with part-time employees – has almost halved in this period. 2
A similar picture emerges with regard to the institutions and employees in open child and youth work:
Declines in facilities and employees in the OKJA facilities
Institutions and people working in youth centers, youth (leisure) homes, open houses (Germany; 1998-2014; absolute figures)
Source: Federal Statistical Office: Statistics on child and youth welfare – facilities and active persons (excluding day care facilities for children); different years 3
The main reasons for this development are the tense financial situation of the municipalities in combination with increased expenditure for other areas of activity, especially in the area of child and youth welfare. 4 The share of expenditure on youth work in total in all expenditure on youth welfare is declining. 5 Issues related to child protection, child day care, assistance with upbringing and all-day school mostly dominate the specialist political agenda on site. For North Rhine-Westphalia, the trend towards a significantly decreasing number of institutions and full-time equivalents does not (yet) appear to be emerging. 6
The empirical development is not a natural event, but the result of political decisions. Political decisions, however, are always the result of conflicts of interest that one actively (co) shapes. A technical examination of the work field of child and youth work, which is also a compulsory task of every municipality, is neglected in many places and does not do justice to the importance and weight of the work field in the world of children and young people.
How can the decline in the resources available for open child and youth work be stopped and reversed?
By paying more attention to the development and implementation of lobby strategies by the organizations and institutions of open child and youth work on site! The local actors in open child and youth work have a major influence on the political significance of their field of work and thus also on the amount of financial resources if they do “good” lobbying.
What is lobbying?
“You have to exert political influence, it is not given away.” 7
Lobbying is methodical representation of interests, i.e. direct or indirect influence on decision-makers and processes in politics and administration. Open child and youth work lobbyists – like other lobbyists – scramble for money, legislation and attention in politics 8 and administration. Central elements of lobbying are, on the one hand, advising decision-makers and, on the other hand, shaping decision-making processes in politics and administration. Lobbying aims to secure and strengthen one’s own institution (s) in the long term. For organizations and institutions involved in open child and youth work, this primarily means securing financial support through the municipal budget and expanding it in the future.
“You have to exert political influence, it is not given away.”
When advising politics and administration, it is fundamentally about building and maintaining exchange relationships with decision-makers. As a medium of exchange for lobbyists, useful information, specialist knowledge, assessments and solutions are used, which are used by politicians and administrators in dealing with or evaluating specific problems. Special means of exchange for open child and youth work are e.g. B. the expertise on the worlds and interests of children and young people or the provision of socially integrative effective participation contexts. 6
You can find an overview of the areas that are relevant for successful lobbying in the working aid “Lobbying in Open Child and Youth Work – A working aid for asserting political interests locally” at https://agot-nrw.de/ueber- us / publications /. The working aid can be ordered free of charge as a printed brochure from [email protected]. 8
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