From BZ/dpa
Welfare organizations and social organizations see the future of Berlin youth clubs in danger. Due to a lack of funds, the Sozdia Foundation alone is forced to close three of its eight such youth offers, as it announced on Thursday. Clubs in Köpenick, Lichtenberg and Rummelsburg are affected.
Such facilities are a “minus business,” it said. State and counties did not allocate nearly enough money to keep it running. “The inconsistent financing standards in the districts make the work of the youth clubs extremely difficult, but the decisive factor is the insufficient basic funding,” said a spokesman.
Michael Heinisch-Kirch, Chairman of the Board of the Sozdia Foundation Berlin, warned that if something doesn’t change quickly here, these closures will not remain the same throughout Berlin. “As a society, we have to ask ourselves what we are putting at risk if we gradually shut down youth work.” Young people need many more such spaces.
The Diakonie Berlin-Brandenburg-Schlesische Oberlausitz made a similar statement. “The actionist processing of the New Year’s Eve riots only led to temporary ad hoc measures in limited projects,” criticized Diakonie director Ursula Schoen. “Long-lasting solutions for social space-oriented youth social work must also be designed to last. Precarious, temporary financing prevents permanent and effective aid structures. With this system, even financially strong organizations have to give up at some point.”
After the New Year’s Eve riots, the governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) convened a summit against youth violence. As a result of the meeting, she announced that she would make available an additional 90 million euros this year and next, for example for youth social work, family counseling centers or violence prevention.
“Each of these measures is correct,” says Heinisch-Kirch, but: “The basic problem of insufficient funding for youth facilities is not solved by the money, since it is earmarked for special programs. Where should the special programs be implemented if the youth clubs in which they could be implemented are threatened in their existence?