Project kick-off of ECHO - ElternCHancen Offenbach in the World Café

"I would like to thank the Youth Welfare Office, which successfully acquired funding for ECHO as part of the ESF Plus-funded program 'ElternChanceN - mit Elternbegleitung Familien stärken'," said Mayor and Head of Youth Welfare Sabine Groß in her welcoming address. She outlined the importance of ECHO for the community and the expectations associated with it: "The ElternCHancen Offenbach project ties in very well with challenges in Offenbach in several respects. Parents of pre-school children are to be empowered so that they can accompany their children well on their educational path. The project is well located in Nordend and close to the people and relies on proven cooperation partners. "

Roberto Priore, Head of the Youth Welfare Office, could only agree: "Some parents have only experienced their children's time at nursery in a phase of entry bans and severely restricted opportunities for daycare centers to work with families. School entry examinations have been canceled. The effects of canceled school hours on the educational biography of many children are gradually becoming apparent. So on the one hand, we have to do some catch-up work for some of the children and their families. On the other hand, we need to develop and establish sustainable support structures for the present and future." Parents need to be involved at an early stage and empowered to guide their children through the institutional education system. Obstacles need to be removed so that parents and families can take advantage of other urban support structures as a matter of course, says Priore "We need to take joint institutional responsibility for daycare centers, schools and other stakeholders to promote the educational biography of children, both those who attend daycare and those who go to school without previously attending daycare."

Beatrix Duttine-Eberhardt, responsible for the social services projects at DRK-Kreisverband Offenbach e.V., put it in a nutshell: "A parent's opportunity is a child's opportunity! Parental support focuses on the whole family." This basic attitude characterizes the federal program of the same name, in which the DRK Kreisverband Offenbach has been involved for over ten years now. "The scientific research accompanying ElternChanceN attests to the great effectiveness of this approach. This is also confirmed by our experience in Offenbach and the constructive cooperation with the youth welfare office and the providers, for example in the Parent School Network, forms a reliable foundation for this."

Stefanie Hasnaoui, education officer at Paritätisches Bildungswerk BV e.V. and in the ParentChanceN consortium, was invited to give the keynote speech. She gave an impressive presentation on the pillars, continuity and effectiveness of the program and encouraged participants to take part in further training to become parent mentors. The attitude with which they approached the families was decisive for the high effectiveness of the low-threshold services. Beatrice Ploch, project coordinator, then presented the key data, objectives and initial experiences of "ECHO - ElternCHancen Offenbach".

After a short break, the participants exchanged ideas at themed tables. They were welcomed by Kristina Brähler from the advice center for parents, children and young people at the youth welfare office, Stefanie Hasnaoui and Wanda Krautter from the "Project Management Prevention" staff unit at the youth welfare office. The focus of the joint discussion was on the challenges for families at the transition to elementary school in Nordend, the support options there and the lack of services. All ideas and suggestions were recorded on metaplan paper. The task now is to evaluate the densely labeled posters and incorporate suggestions into the project practice. The project team will soon take up offers of support and cooperation.