2023-09-10 20:43:22
There is no end to the turbulence on the way to basic child welfare. The leading head of the family policy reform project, the head of the family fund of the Federal Employment Agency (BA), Karsten Bunk, was relieved of his current duties, it was said at the weekend. In the BA, Bunk’s dismissal was indirectly confirmed by pointing out that representation rules applied and that work was continuing to ensure basic child welfare.
An authority spokeswoman did not want to give further details. For reasons of personnel data protection, we cannot comment on personnel matters relating to employees. According to the legal plans of Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens), the family fund will be the executing authority under the new name Family Service in order to better support families in need by bundling and improving transfer payments.
Karsten Bunk lost his job – possibly because of criticism of the project. : Image: Picture Alliance
Bunk gave interviews on the implementation of basic child welfare in August when political negotiations were in full swing. He gave details and gave positive assessments, some of which differ significantly from the overall very critical statement from the BA, which the authority sent to the Ministry of Family Affairs last week as part of the association hearing. It initially remained unclear whether he was recalled because of this or had to vacate his post for other reasons.
According to the authorities, basic requirements are not met
As the BA explains in its statement, which is available to the FAZ, the basic legal and technical requirements for the timely implementation of basic child protection have not yet been met. As things currently stand, the planned start on January 1, 2025 will not be possible, primarily because of the necessary IT adjustments, an authority spokeswoman confirmed at the weekend. A lead time of at least 12 months is required for the complex legislative proposal.
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“The BA has pointed this out again and again,” emphasized the spokeswoman. According to the schedule described by Minister Paus, a bill that is ready for implementation will not be available until February 2024. The chairwoman of the board of the Federal Employment Agency is the former SPD chairwoman Andrea Nahles.
According to the authority’s statement, the first stage of basic child protection cannot come into force until July 1, 2025 at the earliest. This means that the income-independent child guarantee amount (today’s child benefit) and the needs-based additional amount would only be paid out six months later than planned. Further adjustments are not conceivable until July 1, 2026 at the earliest.
The authority headed by Andrea Nahles still sees deficits in basic child welfare. : Image: Tobias Schmitt
The alleged delay may seem moderate given the complexity of the project and compared to the delays in other major government projects. However, the BA’s statement highlights the technical problems that apparently exist in the Ministry of Family Affairs when preparing the draft bill. Crucial implementation problems do not appear to have been even remotely resolved. The draft would “still” leave many organizational and content-related questions unanswered, according to the statement.
Lack of coordination with other regulations
The current design leads to “new bureaucratic processes that cause enormous additional costs”, especially for the job centers, which remain the contact point for parents on citizens’ benefit. The BA criticizes that the insufficient coordination with other regulations, especially regarding citizens’ money, will lead to unequal treatment of certain benefit recipients and “to severe injustice in the systems”.
The time and costs required for implementing the reform have so far only been partially determined. At the weekend, the Ministry of Family Affairs was evasive about the question of what would follow from the criticism of the implementing authority and that the schedule would now be adjusted.
Family Minister Paus has repeatedly pointed out that the implementation requirements are demanding and that the fundamental decisions on basic child security must therefore be made quickly, said a ministry spokeswoman.
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