Child Protection in Germany Explained: Section 8a SGB VIII

What “Kindeswohlgefährdung” means

The term Kindeswohlgefährdung (endangerment of a child’s welfare) is sometimes rendered as “child abuse”, but the German term is much broader. German law does not contain one statutory definition of it. The best-known legal reference point is section 1666 of the Civil Code (BGB). It applies when the physical, mental or emotional welfare of a child, or the child’s property, is endangered and the parents are unwilling or unable to avert the danger. In that case the family court (Familiengericht) takes the measures needed to avert it (section 1666(1) BGB).

The family court has a range of possible measures. Section 1666(3) BGB lists examples, among them orders to use public help such as child and youth welfare services, orders to ensure school attendance, bans on using the family home, contact bans, and the partial or complete withdrawal of parental custody. Section 1666(4) BGB allows measures that bind third parties in matters of personal custody.

For daily practice this means: you are not asked to decide whether the legal threshold of section 1666 BGB is met. That is the task of the Jugendamt and, ultimately, the court. Your task is to notice significant indications, assess the risk in a structured way with support, and pass the case on if the danger cannot be averted otherwise. (general professional knowledge, not a legal rule: practice papers usually describe a child at risk as a child for whom significant harm is to be expected if the situation continues; the exact wording differs between sources.)

The mandate in section 8a SGB VIII

Section 8a of the Child and Youth Welfare Act (SGB VIII) is the core provision. Our social work guide gives a short overview; here is the structure in more detail. The section addresses different actors:

• The Jugendamt (youth welfare office), subsection 1. When it learns of significant indications (gewichtige Anhaltspunkte) for the endangerment of a child’s welfare, it assesses the risk together with several professionals. Parents and the child are involved, unless this would jeopardise effective protection. Where this is necessary in the professionals’ judgement, the Jugendamt gets a direct impression of the child and its personal surroundings and involves persons who passed on data under section 4(3) KKG in a suitable way. If the Jugendamt considers help suitable and necessary to avert the danger, it must offer it to the parents.
• Court and urgent cases, subsection 2. If the Jugendamt considers a family court decision necessary, it must call the court; this also applies if the parents are unwilling or unable to cooperate in assessing the risk. If there is urgent danger and the court’s decision cannot be awaited, the Jugendamt must take the child into care (Inobhutnahme).
• Other bodies, subsection 3. If other agencies, health services or the police need to act, the Jugendamt encourages the parents to involve them and, where immediate action is needed and the parents do not cooperate, contacts those bodies itself.
• Independent providers, subsection 4. This is the part that concerns most staff in Kitas, residential groups and other services run by welfare organisations. Agreements between the public youth welfare provider (in practice usually the Jugendamt) and providers of facilities and services that deliver services under SGB VIII must ensure three things: staff carry out a risk appraisal (Gefährdungseinschätzung) when significant indications become known for a child in their care; they consult an experienced child protection specialist (insoweit erfahrene Fachkraft) in an advisory role; and parents and the child are involved, unless this would jeopardise effective protection. The agreements must also set criteria for the expertise of that specialist, taking into account the particular protection needs of children with disabilities, and must require staff to encourage parents to accept help they consider necessary and to inform the Jugendamt if the danger cannot be averted otherwise.
• Childminders, subsection 5. Agreements with childminders (Kindertagespflegepersonen) who provide services under SGB VIII must likewise ensure a risk appraisal with the advice of an insoweit erfahrene Fachkraft and the involvement of parents and child; sentences 2 and 3 of subsection 4 apply accordingly.

Note the logic of subsection 4: staff are to inform the Jugendamt if the danger cannot be averted otherwise – usually after the risk appraisal and after encouraging the parents to accept help. This is not a waiting period: if involving the parents would put the child at risk, or if a child is in acute danger, other steps come first (see “Acute danger” below). (general professional knowledge: many providers have written procedures that follow this order; your employer’s procedure is the document that applies to you.)

Advice you are entitled to: section 8b SGB VIII

Under section 8b(1) SGB VIII, persons who are in professional contact with children or young people are entitled to advice from an insoweit erfahrene Fachkraft when assessing a possible endangerment in an individual case. The claim is directed against the local youth welfare provider. The specialist advises; the professional who asks keeps the responsibility for the assessment and the next steps. (general professional knowledge) Under section 8b(2), providers of facilities where children spend the whole day or part of it, or live, and the responsible funding bodies are entitled to advice from the supra-local provider (überörtlicher Träger) when developing and applying professional guidelines on safeguarding children’s welfare and protection against violence, and on procedures for involving children and young people in structural decisions in the facility and for complaints in personal matters. Section 8b(3) requires that the particular protection needs of children with disabilities are taken into account.

Teachers, school social workers and doctors: section 4 KKG

Professionals who are normally bound by confidentiality are not allowed to simply pass on information about a child. Section 4 of the Act on Cooperation and Information in Child Protection (KKG) gives them a step model and a legal basis for sharing data. It lists seven groups: doctors, dentists, midwives and members of other health professions with state-regulated training; psychologists with a state-recognised degree; marriage, family, parenting and youth counsellors; addiction counsellors in recognised counselling centres; members of recognised pregnancy conflict counselling centres; state-recognised social workers and social education workers; and teachers at public and state-recognised private schools. Day-care educators (Erzieherinnen and Erzieher) are not listed as such. For staff of providers that deliver services under SGB VIII, including Kitas, the agreements under section 8a(4) SGB VIII are the main route; ask your employer which procedure applies to you.

For doctors, dentists, midwives and members of other regulated health professions, subsection 3 adds a stronger rule: they should inform the Jugendamt without delay if, in their assessment, an urgent danger exists that requires the Jugendamt to act. Whether a particular situation meets these conditions is an individual decision; ask your school management, your employer’s child protection officer or the competent specialist.

Duties of the facility: protection concept and staff checks

A provider of a facility (Einrichtung) within the meaning of section 45a SGB VIII – a formal arrangement of premises, staff and materials, set up for a certain duration under a provider’s responsibility, for day or part-day care, accommodation, upbringing or education of children and young people outside their family – needs an operating licence (Betriebserlaubnis) under section 45(1) SGB VIII. Some facilities are exempt, for example youth recreation and youth education facilities, youth hostels and school country homes, school boarding homes under school supervision, and facilities that perform tasks outside youth welfare if a corresponding statutory supervision exists (section 45(1) sentence 2). The licence is to be granted if the welfare of the children is ensured; as a rule this is the case if, among other requirements, the development, application and review of a concept for protection against violence are ensured, together with suitable procedures for self-representation and participation and the possibility to complain in personal matters inside and outside the facility (section 45(2) sentence 2 no. 4). When applying, the provider must also demonstrate that the submission and checking of task-specific proof of training and of criminal record extracts of staff are ensured; the provider must request and check the extracts again at regular intervals (section 45(3) no. 2).

Separately, section 72a SGB VIII aims to keep persons finally convicted of certain offences listed in the Criminal Code – mainly sexual offences, but also, for example, abuse of persons in one’s care and human trafficking – out of child and youth welfare. Public providers must not employ or place such persons for youth welfare tasks and are to request a criminal record extract on hiring and at regular intervals. Public providers are to ensure by agreement that independent providers and associations do not employ such persons as paid staff (hauptamtlich) (subsection 2). For volunteers and people working in a secondary capacity (neben- oder ehrenamtlich), public providers decide – and agree with independent providers – for which activities an extract must be inspected, depending on the nature, intensity and duration of the contact with children (subsections 3 and 4). For these inspections, only the fact of inspection, the date of the extract and whether there is a relevant conviction may be stored; the data must be deleted without delay if the person does not take up the activity, and at the latest six months after the activity was last carried out (subsection 5). Because sections 45(3) and 72a(1) refer to section 30a(1) of the Federal Central Criminal Register Act (BZRG), your employer may ask you for an “extended” criminal record extract (erweitertes Führungszeugnis). To apply for it, you need a written request from the employer confirming that the conditions are met (section 30a(2) BZRG). People who have lived abroad should ask their employer or the competent authority what is accepted in addition. Obligations can arise from both sections 45 and 72a, so ask your employer which applies to your role.

Typical steps in practice

General professional knowledge – the precise order and forms differ between providers and Länder. Always follow your employer’s written procedure.

Documentation basics(general professional knowledge): write factual, dated notes in neutral language, quote what the child said in the child’s own words, avoid diagnoses and judgements, and store records only as your employer’s data protection rules allow. Social data and professional confidentiality are covered in the courses linked below.

Acute danger: if a child is in immediate danger, call the emergency services (112) or the police (110) and inform your management at once. Do not wait for a team meeting.

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GermanSocialLab offers self-study courses with voluntary self-reflection (not graded) and a confirmation of participation after working through all modules. Legal status: 1 November 2026. This guide describes the situation in Germany in general terms; it provides professional information and does not constitute legal advice. Rules can differ between the 16 federal states (Länder) and between employers – always follow your employer’s procedures and ask the competent authority. Created with AI assistance and editorially reviewed.