Secure residential care in facilities for child and youth services

Secure residential care involving the deprivation of liberty is a residential care intervention provided within the scope of stationary child and youth care services. This form of intervention finds application in cases where other forms of residential care has been deemed unsuitable because, for instance, the young people targeted by the intervention are considered likely to abscond. Secure residential care is an option of last resort intended to safeguard the welfare of young people in cases in which they have been identified as a significant risk to themselves or others. This is set out in the relevant legislation governing the area: Section 27 (in conjunction with Sections 34 and 35a) of Book VIII of the German Social Code (SGB) and Section 1631b Subsection 1 of the German Civil Code (BGB). These placements require the prior approval of the Family Court.

It follows that secure residential care in facilities for child and youth services has been implemented to protect young people and not as a form of punishment. Deprivation of liberty is, nevertheless, an issue that sparks controversial discussions and has repeatedly been brought into the spotlight by debates about “disconnected” young people. There is a lack of information regarding the effectiveness of secure residential care within child and youth services. In this light, the Centre values the opportunity afforded by this research to contribute to a more objective discussion of the topic.

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Deutsches Jugendinstitut
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81541 Munich