City of Chemnitz has clearing houses set up to take unaccompanied minor foreigners into care
As the number of foreign refugees continues to grow, the authorities are also expecting a further influx of refugee children and young people arriving in Germany without parents or relatives. In this context, the federal government has introduced a law to improve the accommodation, care and support of foreign children and young people up to the age of 18: it provides for an equal distribution of these underage refugees among municipalities and districts. According to current information, the law is due to come into force on 1 November 2015.
Chemnitz City Council is today informing the Youth Welfare Committee about its current arrangements for implementing the new law. According to this, there will be two care centres in Chemnitz - so-called clearing houses - each with 50 places. The youth welfare office intends to take children and young people into temporary care there. If these minors remain in Chemnitz, they will undergo a clearing procedure in which their resources will be identified, their need for help will be determined and, if necessary, suitable follow-up help will be found.
Following an expression of interest procedure, the city has now awarded the contract to Heim gGmbH and Arbeiterwohlfahrt to set up the two clearing centres. These are to be set up at Friedrich-Hähnel-Straße 9 and Ritterstraße 9 and will go into operation on 1 January 2016.
Before they open, there will be an open day in each case, where interested citizens can visit the centres and get an idea of the living situation of unaccompanied foreign minors and the care they receive.