Press release No. 439 of 17 September 2021
- Schools and day care centres reported a total of over 19,000 cases of child protection in 2020
- In spring 2020, the cases reported by schools fell by more than half
- At the same time, the cases reported by day care centres, were down by roughly one third
- 70% of all children reported by schools and day care centres were younger than 12 years
WIESBADEN – In the corona year of 2020, the youth welfare offices in Germany recognised an endangerment of the best interests of a child or young person in 60,551 cases. For another 66,557 minors, the authorities came to the conclusion that, although there was no endangerment of children, there was need for help or support. In 15%, or 19,028 of the total of 127,108 cases of child protection, the notification came from a school or day care centre (including childminding services). Prior to the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020, experts had warned that part of the child protection cases might remain undetected due to the temporary closure of schools and day care centres. New monthly figures of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) now show that the reports from schools and day care centres did fall sharply for some time in spring 2020.
