Pilot project aims to mitigate loss of earnings
Foster parents in Bremen can receive an additional €850 per month starting in August 2024 if they take parental leave to care for a child. The payment is similar to parental allowance and is intended to at least partially compensate for lost earnings. The responsible committee for social affairs, youth, and integration approved a corresponding pilot project, initially limited to the end of 2029, in June 2024. The Bremen Parliament had requested the Senate in autumn 2023 to examine the feasibility of introducing such a project.
Desired goal: To enshrine parental allowance for foster families in federal law
“In the long term, we want to enshrine parental leave benefits for foster families in federal law,” said Senator for Social Affairs Dr. Claudia Schilling. “We have secured a resolution to this effect at the Conference of Youth and Family Ministers. But we need additional foster families right now. Therefore, we are initially launching the project as a pilot project and financing it from our municipal budget. This can not only create additional placements but also save considerable costs by reducing the expenses for residential care, which is much more expensive.” The regulation will take effect in August 2024 and targets the primary caregiver for children under eight years of age. It will initially apply only in the city of Bremen; an extension to Bremerhaven is being considered. The €850 will be paid in addition to the standard foster care allowance, which averages €1,900 per month. This brings foster parents to around €33,000 in the first year of care. A place in a residential care facility costs almost three times as much, at around €89,000.
Fewer families are taking in foster children
"Finding a place in a children's home or foster family is particularly difficult for infants and toddlers in Bremen," said Senator Dr. Claudia Schilling. At the same time, the number of families willing to take in a foster child is declining. The "parental allowance-like benefit," as the project is called, is intended to counteract this trend. "The first year with a foster child is especially demanding," the Senator emphasized. "For a foster mother or father, this can quickly become a full-time job, requiring them to give up their professional career." The "parental allowance-like benefit" is intended to provide families with greater financial security, especially during this initial period.
The burden on those taking someone into care should be reduced
The emergency placement system, designed for short-term care, is now operating at its limits. Children sometimes have to wait nine months or longer before they can move from emergency placement to a permanent facility or foster family. Based on experience in Hanover with a similar model, the parental allowance-like benefit has led to an additional six to seven families deciding to take in a foster child each year. "If we achieve that, we can be satisfied, even though I would naturally like to see more," said Senator Dr. Schilling. In Bremen, twelve children under the age of three are currently in emergency placement or transitional foster care, waiting to be placed in a foster family or a permanent spot in a children's home (as of April 30, 2024).
533 children in a Bremen foster family
At the end of last year, a total of 533 children were living in foster care in Bremen (full-time foster care). During 2023, 45 children were placed in full-time foster care, slightly more than a third of whom were under three years old. This information comes from the 2023 annual report of PiB, Pflegekinder in Bremen gGmbH (Foster Children in Bremen), which operates on behalf of the social services department. According to the annual report, the number of foster families has been steadily declining since 2016, when it was over 600.
Source: Press Office of the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, The Senator for Labour, Social Affairs, Youth and Integration, Press Release , 13 June 2024