Many offers of help

When the family becomes a trouble spot

The reality of life for many families in Vorarlberg does not have much to do with a "bubble world".

(Bild: stock.adobe.com - travnikovstudio)

The annual report of the Vorarlberg Children's Village is thought-provoking: the many crises are having an impact on families, with escalations becoming more and more frequent. The good news: there are also many offers of help.

Everyone knows about the Vorarlberg Children's Village, but what is done there and in the associated departments is much less well known. At a time when many people are preoccupied with their own crises, the needs of children and young people often fall under the radar. Yet the youngest often need special support these days, as the figures in the Children's Village annual report show.

More and more interventions due to escalations
Last year, for example, the Family Crisis Service's interventions rose from 125 in 2022 to 171, an increase of 37%. The family crisis service is on hand with advice and support when a situation within the family escalates.

In addition, more and more parents are finding themselves in difficult situations. According to Simon Burtscher-Mathis from the management team, the exhaustion and susceptibility to crises has increased significantly in the 373 families supported by the family crisis service in the previous year. There is also a lack of urgently needed places in child and adolescent psychiatry. The consequences are fatal: the excessive demands on parents are exacerbated and children have to remain in a highly stressful family environment for longer. This is often accompanied by poorer educational opportunities, health problems, shame and social exclusion.

Social isolation as a risk factor

For children and their parents who receive outpatient support from the "Family Network" department, there are two main factors that lead to problems: Poverty and social isolation. Of the 502 families affected with 942 children, 52% live in poverty or are at risk of poverty - and 36% of parents have neither family nor friends to support them in these difficult times.

Because this social network is increasingly lacking, the Children's Village organizes help on a voluntary basis: in 2023, 223 private individuals volunteered to help children. They invested a total of 15,866 hours of their free time to make everyday life easier for young families - an achievement that deserves recognition.

We also come up against limits time and again, failing despite the highest level of expertise and full commitment.

Simon Burtscher-Mathis, Geschäftsführung Vorarlberger Kinderdorf

Violence as a reason for out-of-home care
Where support is not possible in the family environment, children are placed in out-of-home care. Last year, 83 children were cared for in the "Paedakoop" inpatient setting, 68 in the reception group and 62 in residential groups at the Kronhalde Children's Village. The main reasons why children can no longer stay at home are mental illness and excessive demands on parents, as well as violence in the family.

In this context, we are urgently looking for people who can imagine a life as foster parents - in pairs, with an existing family or alone. This is because the number of people who are confident enough to take on this task is declining. New foster care models are intended to remedy this situation: Last year, 26 babies and toddlers found care and a home for a limited period of time in standby foster families. 147 children and young people lived in long-term foster families.

More information about the children's village

www.vorarlberger-kinderdorf.at

Giving children a chance again and again
Such a task requires courage, a sense of responsibility and perseverance, as Simon Burtscher-Mathis knows that it is not always easy to be a support for children with previous difficulties: "We also reach our limits and fail despite our high level of expertise and full commitment. However, it is important that we look at things and see failure as something that promotes development, because every child always deserves a new chance."