F4 – Early Childhood Intervention

The department F4 “Early Childhood Intervention” is divided into three project areas:

• Research on prevalences and implementation
  (further information on the German website)
• Quality development
  (further information on the German website)
• Learning from problematic child protection histories
  (further information on the German website)

The department is involved in the research and development of practice relating to the field of early childhood intervention. This is defined as the welfare state response to family risk constellations during early childhood, currently implemented as part of the National Centre for Early Prevention operating on a national, regional and local level. The National Centre for Early Prevention holds an intermediary position between established care systems and actions motivated by a contrary logic. It therefore faces particular challenges: cooperation has to be established between different disciplines and professions, status groups and organizations while at the same time balancing the conflicting priorities between general health promotion measures and child-raising on the one hand and child protection intervention measures on the other. Early childhood intervention is also an area of establishing cross-disciplinary care systems geared towards the complex needs of families.

The aim of the department's research and development programme is to achieve application-oriented progress as well as to promote reflexivity based on empirical research. In doing so, all relevant stakeholders and levels of the area are examined: the recipients or clients, the personnel, the institutions and municipal welfare systems and also the management and development of department policy on a federal and regional level.

The project area “Learning from problematic child protection histories” is a separate research and development focus that looks into the risks of institutional child protection and the professional interface between early intervention and the action taken in case of child welfare impairment by multi-professional aid systems.

Since 2007 the DJI has been partner of the Federal Centre for Health Education cooperating at the “National Centre for Early Prevention” (NZFH), which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens and Youth (BMFSFJ). The permanent institution "Federal Foundation for Early Childhood Intervention" was established in 2018. 

The official website of the National Centre for Early Prevention is www.fruehehilfen.de.