Aziza is 32 years old, comes from Iraq and is an asylum seeker. She has been in Germany with her husband and three children for over a year. They are safe here. After spending time in various reception centers, the family has been allocated a small apartment for some time. But things are not really going well here. Her husband has been drinking for some time. He is often out with his compatriots, other men, and she doesn't know exactly with whom or where. Her eldest son, 12-year-old Faruk, is slipping away from her more and more and she doesn't know where he is, what he is doing or who his friends are. Sometimes she finds out from the police, who have already taken him home twice. She has also had to go with him to police headquarters for questioning. Faruk had struck and forced an 11-year-old to hand over money. The charge is robbery.
Aziza doesn't understand any of this. Not her son, not the police and not even the youth welfare office, which had already contacted her once. She doesn't know what she should do, how she should behave and who she should confide in. Her husband says it's her business and that she should take care of the children and not embarrass him. She can't talk to him. The police where Aziza grew up were brutal and corrupt. She doesn't know much about the police in Germany, but why should they be any different than at home? She had heard from a friend that it was a state organization that can take children away from parents and she is afraid, but she can't talk to anyone about it.
And then the police are at the door again. It's a man, he's not wearing a uniform. His companion speaks to her in her local language - not just the local language, but even the dialect spoken where she grew up - and says that the man is a policeman who is worried about Faruk's development and that he wants to help him and her so that things don't get any worse. The woman goes on to tell her that she is a mediator - a language and integration mediator. She is employed by the police. Aziza is astonished when the woman explains that she comes from a place just a few kilometers away from her hometown, but has been in Germany for a long time.
The language and integration mediator is very open and friendly and tells her about an initiative here in Germany that aims to help children who are at risk of becoming permanent criminals. Aziza is amazed. She lets the woman and the man in. The man talks, the woman translates and explains to her what it all means. She explains how the police work in Germany, what exactly a youth welfare office is and what this initiative is all about. "Kurve kriegen", she says, is the name of this program. Aziza tells the language and integration mediator about her fear that her son will be taken away from her. The lady speaks very calmly, smiles at her and explains very clearly that even a youth welfare office can't just do that. A judge would have to be involved - but, according to the lady, that was not the aim of her visit. They wanted to help her. To do this, however, she would have to accept help and cooperate. The two are very nice and Aziza gains their trust. In a long conversation, she talks about her problems, about her husband, who is no help to her, about Faruk, who causes her a lot of worry, about her overload with his two little siblings, with the authorities, about her fears...
Aziza talks more than she has for a long time and about topics she has never spoken to anyone about. Aziza is hopeful and now wants people to help her and her son. Under no circumstances should he be a criminal, she says.
The start has been made. "Kurve kriegen" has a foot in the door. The work can begin.
Aziza's story is one of many that have arisen since the cooperation with the language and integration mediators began. Sometimes it is very quick to gain people's trust, sometimes it takes several attempts and a lot of perseverance. But it almost always works in the end. And that is precisely the aim of this new and nationwide unique cooperation between a security authority and language and integration mediators.
Establishing access, gaining trust, allowing help and encouraging cooperation
The tool needed in this case is called "language and integration mediation". A job description that is currently in the process of being established, although they, the "language and integration mediators" (SIM), have already been used in hospitals, schools, public offices, etc. for several years. However, the systemic cooperation with a security authority was a first for SIM in Germany and was implemented for the first time as part of the "Kurve kriegen" initiative.
A public tendering process was used to find an efficient partner with a large number of highly qualified SIMs certified to the relevant standards and an efficient back office that meets the specific requirements of the initiative. In terms of organization, these are in particular the uncomplicated, short-term and precise placement throughout NRW, a central and permanently staffed contact point and good quality management.
As a result, the contract was awarded to bikup GmbH, a strong provider from Cologne, so that the "Sprachmittlerpool Kurve kriegen" was launched in March 2018 - accompanied by a series of information events for the initiative's professionals. After a period of trial and error, the enormous added value of working with the SIM quickly became clear and the number of assignments increased exponentially. There are currently over 400 deployments with over 1,300 deployment hours. On site, the SIMs support the initiative's detectives and educational specialists in their work with children, young people and their families who are at risk of crime. They mediate and interpret socio-culturally, clarify misunderstandings, advise the specialists, create access to the families and thus the conditions for trusting cooperation with them.
But here too, nothing is set in stone. Precisely because we are at the beginning of a new collaboration, it is important to constantly keep an eye on quality and make adjustments if necessary.
How did this cooperation come about
"Kurve kriegen" has been working successfully for eight years. People throughout Germany are now aware of this effective and efficient program to prevent so-called careers of prolific offenders. The systemic but always faithful and clear link between the police and social work is recognized as the absolutely right approach to tackle the multi-problem environment in which children at risk of crime are predominantly found. "Kurve kriegen" and youth welfare offices interact symbiotically. The collaboration, including with other responsible parties and cooperation partners such as schools, public prosecutors' offices, local courts, etc., runs smoothly, strictly in the interests of the cause and is almost always successful.
But there is no reason to "rest on our laurels". The creators of the initiative know very well that such a program cannot be static. Once developed and set up, it does not mean good and successful forever. The framework in which "turning the corner" takes place is constantly changing. The motto is to readjust and adapt, because yesterday's structures do not create solutions for tomorrow.
Many things have already been changed in the past. In addition to implementing the twelve recommendations for action from the process evaluation and eight recommendations for action from the impact evaluation, processes have been supplemented or modified. For example
- the target group was expanded in terms of age to enable longer care times,
- the limit of the original two-year participation period was lifted,
- standardized the screening and acquisition process,
- introduced the "GAS" target agreement procedure and internal case conferences as standard,
- standardized transition and handover management after the end of participation,
- Binding quality standards for outsourcing to third-party providers have been established.
We are constantly working to optimize the initiative. Thanks to our close controlling and monitoring, which also includes regular on-site appointments, we have a very good insight into the authorities and the work in the initiative. This enables us to recognize the need for change and new challenges at an early stage and react accordingly. We recognized a growing challenge in the area of immigrants. In the screening and acquisition process, we identified young people from families who had not been in Germany for very long and who were at high risk of committing crimes. However, they were not accessible to our specialists. Participation was refused. There were many reasons for this, including mistrust, fear or a lack of understanding. After in-depth consultations and based on our experience in the "klarkommen" initiative, we came to the conclusion that socio-cultural misunderstandings were the cause of the refusals and that we would definitely not get anywhere with our "Kurve kriegen" toolbox in these cases - despite the obvious high need for crime prevention intervention. The tool needed in this case is "language and integration mediation" (SIM).
