Child day care expansion planning
In cooperation with all childcare providers, youth welfare planning promotes the expansion of childcare services in line with demand, currently especially services for 0- to 3-year-olds. In doing so, the respective supply and demand situation in the districts is taken into account as well as the claim to offer the widest possible variety of providers and care concepts in all districts.
The legal basis for the provision of childcare services and for the promotion of children in daycare facilities is the Child and Youth Welfare Act (SGB VIII). According to § 24 SGB VIII, all children from one to under three years of age have an unrestricted right to a place in a daycare facility or in daycare. Children under the age of one are also entitled to a place in daycare if certain conditions are met (for example, the parent or guardian is employed). A child who has reached the age of three is entitled to support in a daycare facility until he or she starts school.
Municipalities are therefore challenged to analyze the local situation and to provide a high-quality supply of places that meets demand in good time or to initiate expansion measures that meet the current requirements and needs of families and their children.
Role of planning
Various planning tools and methods are used to determine the existing demand for childcare services. This includes the central comparison of waiting lists for children under 3 years of age, which is carried out across all providers. The results, which are available at the district and city neighborhood level, form the basis for further expansion planning. In addition, the social infrastructure for new residential areas is coordinated across departments, taking into account the planning of future-proof and innovative education and childcare options. When new daycare facilities are built on behalf of the state capital Stuttgart, the youth welfare planning department, together with the office for the promotion of independent providers, identifies a suitable operating provider by means of an expression of interest procedure and a criteria-based selection process.
In addition to the development of new locations, the existing structure of services is analyzed and, in cooperation with the providers, existing facilities are adapted, expanded and modernized to meet demand.
In addition to data-based information, good cooperation and communication with the operators play a key role in identifying needs and in further planning. To this end, central and socio-spatial planning meetings are held with all providers, and individual providers are consulted on expansion and further development.
Politicians and the public are informed once a year about the current situation and the further expansion of child day care through differentiated reporting.
Current development topics
The annual report on the development of child daycare in Stuttgart for 2021 was presented to the Youth Welfare Committee on May 9, 2022 with the municipal council bill GRDrs 236/2022 (see downloads, GRDrs 236/2022).
Compared to the previous year 2020, there are 94 more places for children under the age of three and around 3,432 more places than in 2012. As of March 1, 2021, the statistical coverage rate in the toddler sector is 50.2 percent overall and 44.5 percent for the daycare offers.
Based on the results of central waiting list comparisons carried out, it can be assumed that an average supply of around 59% of infants is required in Stuttgart in order to cover the existing demand.
The projects adopted in the last budgets and in the individual status reports during the year, some of which are still being implemented, will gradually improve the statistical coverage rate in the coming years - depending on the further development of child numbers. The prerequisite is that the projects can all be implemented as planned.
Contact: For independent providers Christine Wagner
For the municipal provider Tim Debé
Downloads
- Development of day care for children in Stuttgart (GRDrs 236/2022)PDF-File 344,16 kB
- Statistical supply development of the city as a wholePDF-File 51,77 kB
- Projected development of statistical coverage (under 3-year-olds)PDF-File 33,05 kB
- Projected development of statistical coverage (3- to 6-year-olds)PDF-File 214,31 kB
- Day care in Stuttgart - supply situation in the city districts (as of 01.03.2021)PDF-File 893,21 kB
- Decided places in the districtsPDF-File 433,31 kB
Inclusion in daycare centers: The Stuttgart "Kita for all" program
Nothing is standardized, every child is special, everyone is welcome - this is the guiding principle of the City of Stuttgart's "Daycare for all" programme.
Inclusion in daycare centers means that a daycare center is there for all children, regardless of social and national origin, gender, religion, financial and cultural background, health impairment or disability and other differences. The "Kita für alle" program focuses on the education, upbringing and care of children with disabilities.
The "Kita für alle" program supports facilities on their path to inclusion and families with a child with a disability receive quick and unbureaucratic advice. Daycare centers and parents can contact the "Central Information and Advice Center" (ZIB) of the health department if they have any questions. In structurally supported daycare centers, permanently employed integration specialists accompany the children and families and ensure continuous support. The program is framed by a guideline, an inter-departmental and inter-office working group "Daycare for All" and a practical advisory board "Daycare for All", in which parents as well as daycare center employees are represented. (for further information see downloads).
Role of planning
The youth welfare planning department is responsible for the development and establishment of the program. It coordinates the implementation of the agreed structures and model projects across all offices and providers and is responsible for their conceptual development as well as for quality assurance and review. Youth welfare planning also supports the development process of the Stuttgart guideline "Daycare for all" and informs the working group and the "Daycare for all" advisory board about further developments and plans regarding inclusion in Stuttgart's daycare centers.
Current development topics
The "Daycare for All" program was adopted by the municipal council in the consultations on the 2020/2021 double budget and has been implemented since 2020. It was agreed with the program that a municipal guideline "Daycare for all" must be a central component, as this contributes significantly to supporting the inclusive attitude, opening and further development of daycare centers. To this end, it was decided that the guideline would be developed in a participatory process - together with parents, representatives of providers, facilities and administrators, as well as early intervention specialists. The guideline was developed in three workshops by around sixty participants and unanimously adopted by the municipal council in April 2023. The "Daycare for All" guideline will be tested in a pilot phase from September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2026 in Stuttgart's daycare centers. It has been agreed that it will be jointly evaluated and further developed in further participation processes.
The structurally funded "Kitas S-Plus" facilities were evaluated from September 2022 to June 2023 by the Chair of Early Childhood Education at the Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg with the aim of evaluating successes and opportunities for improvement and thus further developing quality. The final report by the University of Bamberg proves that the "Kitas S-Plus" in Stuttgart meet the key requirements for the implementation of an inclusive daycare center. The local council has therefore decided that further facilities will be developed into "Kitas S-Plus" from 2024. (for further information, see downloads)
In addition, the municipal council decided that inclusion specialist pools (IFK pools) will be set up from 2024. These pools guarantee the permanent employment of specialists and enable providers to find qualified specialists for individual case support more easily and with less effort. IFK pools are a flexible, forward-looking instrument for providing needs-oriented and person-centered support and support for children with disabilities in daycare facilities. They are an important addition to the models and structures of the Stuttgart "Daycare for All" program. It has been decided that a cross-agency IFK pool will be set up at the Stuttgart Health Department for smaller daycare providers and that large daycare providers can establish their own pool.
- Brochure Stuttgart Guideline "Kita für alle" (Daycare for All)PDF-File 2,13 MB
- Stuttgart guideline "Daycare for all" brochure in easy languagePDF-File 12,78 MB
- Stuttgart overall program "Daycare for all": Interim evaluation of the pilot project "Kitas S-Plus". Final report (GRDrs 848/2023)PDF-File 439,44 kB
- Stuttgart overall program "Kita for all": Interim evaluation of the pilot project "Kitas S-Plus" Final report. (Annex 1 to GRDrs 848/2023)PDF-File 967,44 kB
- Stuttgart overall program "Daycare for all": Implementation and further planning steps (GRDrs 174/2023)PDF-File 823,87 kB
- Stuttgart guideline "Kita für alle" (Daycare for all) Proposed resolution GRDrs 124/2023PDF-File 321,38 kB
- Kita for all - cross-carrier quality standards "Kitas S-Plus" GRDrs 864/2022PDF-File 401,25 kB
- Framework concept Kita für alle in Stuttgart (GRDrs 84/2019, Annex 1)PDF-File 1,16 MB
- Presentation in simple language: Kita for all in StuttgartPDF-File 1,01 MB
Contact: Daniela Steinhoff
Child and family centers - KiFaZ
The KiFaZ program of the state capital of Stuttgart supports child daycare facilities that care for a certain proportion of children and families whose living conditions are particularly difficult, especially due to poverty and structural educational disadvantages. In addition, the KiFaZ also explicitly target children with disabilities and their families, as these facilities are very well suited to providing support and encouragement to children and families thanks to their open, welcoming attitude and networked approach.
The KiFaZ receive additional resources for services that create educational equality and include the families' social environment. All children and families benefit from the KiFaZ services, regardless of their living situation.
Currently, 35 KiFaZs from various providers are funded by the local authorities in Stuttgart. The 2022 locations can be found in the downloads. Since 01.01.2022, the daycare center for children at Freibergstraße 34 (Münster district) and the MOSAIK-Kita Rot (Zuffenhausen district) have been newly funded as KiFaZs.
The framework concept of the Stuttgart KiFaZ defines four fields of action in which special support is provided: Supporting Children - Strengthening Parents - Supporting Families - Early Support. For each field of action, binding standards are defined that ensure low-threshold support and enable help for self-help. An essential part of the KiFaZ work is cooperation in various areas, for example, with family education centers, health departments or counseling centers. The "Framework Concept of the Stuttgart Child and Family Centers" was created by the Youth Welfare Office in cooperation with the KiFaZ providers in February 2021 and published as a brochure (see downloads for web version).
Role of planning
The youth welfare planning department coordinates the professional development and expansion process and is responsible for conceptual development as well as quality assurance and review. It organizes interagency conferences for all KiFaZ managers and specialists as well as steering committees with representatives of the providers. It is also responsible for evaluating the content of the report and for regularly reviewing the criteria that a childcare center must fulfill (for more information, see the framework concept of the Stuttgart childcare centers, see downloads).
Current development topics
With the current KiFaZ framework concept, since 2020 not only children from financially strained life situations are reached, but also children with disabilities and their families. Another innovation is that KiFaZ can also offer services for children and families from the district under certain conditions. In addition, structures are currently being developed for binding cooperation with various institutions and offices, for example, with family education centers, with the health department, or with early intervention services.
Contact: Christine Wagner
Language support in Stuttgart's day care center for children
Language education, language training and language support that is integrated into everyday life and holistically oriented are central tasks in early childhood education. It has been shown that the acquisition of language skills has a significant influence on the successful educational biography of children and is thus a prerequisite for social participation and integration. The basis for this is the orientation plan for education and upbringing (opens in a new tab) in Baden-Württemberg kindergartens and other daycare facilities.
In many cases, however, children from families with low levels of stimulation, children with developmental delays, or children with an immigrant background who are learning German as an additional language need more intensive support for their language development processes in order to improve their future opportunities. This more targeted support takes place within the framework of language education and support integrated into everyday life, both in the daycare center and in daycare for children, and is oriented toward the child's individual stage of development, abilities and interests.
To this end, there are currently three language support programs in which Stuttgart daycare centers and daycare for children can participate:
1. federal program Sprach-Kitas: Because language is the key to the world.
The federal program (opens in a new tab) focuses on promoting structures in the early childhood sector with more far-reaching tasks. The additional specialist supports the daycare team
- in language education work integrated into everyday life
- in the further development of cooperation with families and
- in the further development of an inclusive pedagogy.
Currently, just under 120 Stuttgart daycare centers are participating in the federal program. It is limited in time until December 31, 2022.
2. administrative regulation of the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs for the implementation of the overall concept of reliably advancing competencies (VwV Kolibri)
The state program Kolibri (opens in a new tab) supports language pedagogical work with children by promoting children with a more intensive need for language support in groups or - after consultation with the Supraregional Office for Early Childhood Education (opens in a new tab) at the Stuttgart Regional Council - in organizational formats integrated into everyday life as a special form. With the entry into force of the VwV Kolibri since 01.08.2019, suitable language support measures can also be carried out in child day care centers in other suitable rooms.
At the same time, the state program offers an orientation framework for the qualitative implementation of language support.
3. funding principles of the Youth Welfare Office of the City of Stuttgart for the granting of municipal subsidies for the promotion of language support measures
The municipal funding program also starts with language support work with children. Stuttgart daycare centers with a proportion of 50 percent or more bilingual children receive additional funding for targeted language support.
Currently, around 500 independent and municipal groups receive funding. The municipal funding program is currently being revised.
As part of the school enrollment examination (ESU), the health department assesses, among other things, the language development status of all children, taking into account the pedagogical assessment of the daycare specialist, the information provided by the parents and the medical examination findings.
The corresponding data from the years 2009 to 2015 are published as part of the health reporting in the Child Health Report 2015.
Role of planning
Youth welfare planning is involved in the further development of language support in Stuttgart's daycare centers from a cross-agency perspective. It is currently helping to reorganize the city's support program, taking into account the upcoming changes at the federal and state level in this field of action.
Current development topics
As a development task for youth welfare planning, the previous joint Stuttgart guidelines for language education, language training and language promotion are to be updated together with the child day care providers to form an overall Stuttgart concept. Federal and state-wide processes will also be included in this process.
Contact: Sabine Reich
Transition Kita - Elementary School
There is an obligation to cooperate between youth welfare services and schools in accordance with Section 81 of Social Code VIII. Professionals in day care centers are required to cooperate with teachers in schools in order to ensure a good transition to school for the children (§ 22a Social Code VIII). The Orientation Plan for Education and Upbringing of Baden-Württemberg (opens in a new tab) and the administrative regulation of the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs on the cooperation between day care facilities for children and elementary schools (VwV Kooperation Kindertageseinrichtungen - Grundschulen) specify goals, expectations and possible forms for the cooperation between the two institutions.
All Stuttgart elementary schools and the daycare centers located in their catchment area are obligated to cooperate. The aim of optimizing the transition from the daycare center to the school system is to strengthen the interaction between the elementary and primary sectors and to support children as they start school and cope with the changes this entails. In this way, the children themselves can experience the change as successful, which subsequently has a developmental effect on them.
The following quality features characterize a successful transition from daycare to elementary school:
- The pedagogical work between the educational institutions is coordinated with regard to the children.
- Future school children are provided with goal-oriented offers, for example, participation in lessons.
- With an individual view of the child, his or her level of development, strengths and developmental needs are known.
- Cooperation with parents regarding a successful transition of their children is established.
- Firm cooperation structures are in place between the cooperation partners
- There are inner-city support systems for cooperation between daycare centers and elementary schools.
In Stuttgart, joint recommendations on cooperation between daycare centers and elementary schools were adopted on July 9, 2013 with the title "Successfully managing the transition from daycare to school." They form a sustainable common basis for shaping the cooperative relationships between the two educational institutions.
In order to enable schools and daycare centers to intensify and systematically cooperate, the state capital is promoting pedagogical alliances at four locations and educational centers at five locations with improved framework conditions. The brochure "Pädagogische Verbünde und Bildungshäuser in der Landeshauptstadt - Kooperationsformen, Qualitätsmerkmale und Handlungsempfehlungen" (Pedagogical Alliances and Educational Centers in the State Capital - Forms of Cooperation, Quality Characteristics and Recommendations for Action) provides an up-to-date insight into cooperation activities, deals with success factors and stumbling blocks as well as future requirements in the field of cooperation between daycare centers and elementary schools.
For the daycare/school year 2020/21, the state capital will support three additional pedagogical alliances with additional personnel resources.
Furthermore, the youth welfare planning department uses funds from the quality development fund to support training and cooperation events on the topic of "Transition from daycare to school".
Role of planning
The youth welfare planning takes up city-wide issues concerning the organization of the transition from daycare to elementary school and contributes to the conceptual development, qualification and solution finding in the field of action.
Together with other actors from this field of action (daycare providers, state education authority), youth welfare planning participates in the working group "Cooperation between daycare facilities for children and elementary schools (AK Kooperation)". Here, current developments in the area of cooperation between the two educational institutions are discussed and quality assurance measures are developed.
The youth welfare planning steers the implementation of further pedagogical alliances and coordinates their development process. For the locations that maintain an intensified cooperation, the youth welfare planning initiates a cross-location steering committee as well as exchange rounds and accompanies their further development.
Current development topics
Current development topics include the expansion of intensified cooperation with other pedagogical associations as well as the city-wide implementation of the new joint administrative regulation of the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs of Baden-Württemberg on cooperation between daycare facilities for children and elementary schools.
Contact: Sabine Reich
Downloads pedagogical alliances and educational houses
- Pedagogical alliances and educational housesPDF-File 1,06 MB
- More information about the pedagogical alliances in StuttgartPDF-File 250,40 kB
- Locations of the pedagogical alliances StuttgartPDF-File 113,46 kB
- Framework goals of the Stuttgart pedagogical alliancesPDF-File 110,19 kB
- Results of the Evaluation Pedagogical Alliances and Educational HousesPDF-File 1,51 MB
- More information about the educational housesPDF-File 194,03 kB
- Locations of the educational housesPDF-File 98,48 kB