The new kindergarten year began on August 1st. This is a reason for the city’s youth welfare office to analyze what things are currently like in Minden. With the immigration of Ukrainian families from the end of February 2022, daycare centers and schools have become cramped over the past two years. “Nevertheless, a suitable daycare place could be found for almost all children under and over the age of three living in Minden,” report youth welfare office director Eckhard Mohrmann and the head of the “Child Daycare Administration” department, David Bichert.
“Every child from the age of one until they start school has a legal right to early childhood education or a place in a day care facility or child day care, which we guarantee in Minden according to the current figures,” says Mayor Michael Jäcke. The last two years of daycare before starting school are free of charge in NRW (Section 50 Paragraph 1 KiBiz). “A guaranteed daycare place promotes qualified education and upbringing and the compatibility of family and work,” adds Youth Welfare Office Director Mohrmann.
In the kindergarten needs planning, which was presented to politicians in February 2024, a distinction is made between children under three years of age (U 3) and children over three years of age (Ü 3). There are currently a total of 3,073 places in daycare centers and 303 in child day care for U 3 and Ü 3 children.
What does it look like in the U3 area?
“For children under three, child day care must always be taken into account,” explains youth welfare office director Mohrmann. According to the 8th Social Code – Child and Youth Services (Section 24, Paragraph 2), it is an “equal care offer” especially for younger children. This means that the legal right to child care is also fulfilled by arranging a place in child day care. In the current kindergarten year alone, starting August 1, 2024, 293 U3 places are available in child day care.
The “Child Daycare Administration” department identified 172 existing children in the U3 area as of February 1, 2024. There were 574 registrations for the new daycare year, which meant a total need for 746 places. At that time, 579 U3 places were available in Minden’s daycare centers and 293 in child day care. In total, that makes 872 places, which is an increase of 108 free U3 places. “But not all parents have received a place for their child in the daycare center of their choice. But for everyone who needs care, there is an alternative place in Minden,” the head of the youth welfare office makes clear.
“We make a lot possible here and always offer parents and single parents good alternatives,” emphasizes David Bichert. He and the employees in the department have had exciting weeks – not only because the city took over responsibility for the Bölhorst daycare center on August 1st after the AWO OWL withdrew. “Parents and single parents also contact us at short notice before the start of the daycare year and are looking for a suitable place for their child,” Bichert continues. In such and many other cases, the three colleagues in the department, which moved to the foundation house at Deichhof at the beginning of 2024, are in demand. Parents or parents contact the daycare centers directly and ask for a place there.
There is always a lot of movement in terms of demand and places. Many years of experience in this area show that many children are initially registered, especially in the under-3s area. There is no deadline, and children can also be registered during the year. However, when concrete commitments are made, or when parents are offered a place in another daycare center (not the one they wanted), it is more common for parents to turn away from the daycare offer, says Bichert. They do not withdraw because there are too few places overall, but because they would like to continue to look after their small children at home or in a very specific daycare center.
Child day care is intended in particular for children under the age of three. The amount of time spent caring for the child each day depends on the individual needs of the parent or parents. Child day care is provided by qualified day carers – also in large day care centers – who take the individual needs and individual support of the child into account. Parents and single parents can choose between different child care services, i.e. day care centers or child day care, for their children, depending on what is available in the region.
What does it look like in the over 3s area?
For a total of 2,611 children living in Minden born between October 1, 2018 and November 1, 2021, 2,494 places (over 3 years old – with corridor places – these are additional places provided voluntarily by the providers) are available in the daycare year from August 1. This corresponds to a demand coverage rate of 95.5 percent; without corridor places, the demand coverage rate in Minden is 92.9 percent. On paper, this means that 117 and 185 places are missing in the over-3s area of the daycare centers. In some cases, there are even still free places in certain daycare centers. “We still have free capacity for over-3s children in child day care, which means that we reach 100 percent,” says department head David Bichert.
“Most of the children over the age of three for whom parents wanted a place in a daycare center from August 1, 2024, have been provided with a place – but even here, not always in the daycare center of their choice,” says Bichert. There are daycare centers with longer waiting lists. The individual providers decide which child is accepted if there is more demand than there are places. For example, it plays a role whether there are already siblings in the facility.
In the coming daycare year 2025/26, the situation will ease. With currently 2,518 identified children over the age of three, the city of Minden will achieve a demand coverage rate of 99.3 percent with newly created places, according to kindergarten needs planning.
And because places in the city center are particularly popular, another emergency group has been set up in the cathedral kindergarten. There is a brand new group in the Marien Residenz with 23 places. Another group for children aged three and over is to be opened here in 2026. A new daycare center with 73 places is to open in Bärenkämpen on January 1, 2026. The demand for daycare places in Minden has remained stable at a high level – contrary to expectations from previous figures. This is mainly due to the admission of more than 1,300 refugees from Ukraine – including many women with children – in 2022, according to the Youth Welfare Office. Around 1,690 people from Ukraine currently live in Minden.
More information
Because “there is greatness in the little things”, the Youth Welfare Office of the City of Minden promotes and promotes childcare services year after year. The number of places in the 43 daycare centers and child day care is constantly growing. The city itself now has five of its own facilities. All the others are run by churches, independent organizations and parents’ initiatives.
The city attaches great importance to providing a suitable place for all parents and single parents who have registered a need. Qualified advice plays a major role in this. The entire organization of the places and the administration of the daycare centers and child day care facilities/groups is managed by the child day care department of the youth welfare office. David Bichert has been in charge here since 2020.
Childcare in Minden also has its price. Almost 34.8 million euros had to be spent in 2023 on the operation and staff in the daycare centers and child day care. But the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is contributing the “biggest chunk” with 16.3 million euros. “Our children and families are worth it to us,” summarizes youth welfare office director Mohrmann. “The children are our future. And they should have the best possible care and education. That is the mission of all youth welfare offices.”
