State strengthens guiding services at maternity clinics - an additional 80,000 euros for the program “Early Support in Saarland”
The Saarland state government is further expanding support for guiding services at maternity clinics and is increasing funding within the state program “Early Support in Saarland” by 80,000 euros annually.
“Good starting opportunities for children must not depend on their parents’ financial means. The first years of life are particularly crucial for a child’s development. That is why the state is investing specifically in the guiding services at Saarland’s maternity clinics. These assist families immediately after birth, support parents in challenging life situations, and facilitate early access to appropriate support services. In doing so, they make an important contribution to poverty prevention from the start,” explains Social Minister Magnus Jung on the occasion of the increase in funding.
The guiding services are an essential component of Early Support in Saarland. They help to identify stressful situations at an early stage, advise families, and facilitate access to suitable support services. In particular, families facing social or financial challenges benefit from the low-threshold support around the birth of their child.
With the additional funding, the state government is responding to the increased demands on the guiding services as well as the varying support needs in the individual regions. The previous state funding amounting to 12,500 euros per maternity clinic remains unchanged. In addition, the extra funds will in future be allocated according to a socially balanced distribution key, which takes into account both the number of births and the respective social burden on site.
“Families in difficult social or economic situations often require higher levels of support. Therefore, the regional social needs will be increasingly considered when distributing the additional funds. At the same time, all Saarland maternity clinics are being strengthened so that the guiding services can continue their important work reliably in the future,” says Jung.
A special focus is placed on regions with increased support needs, such as the Saarbrücken regional association. With this measure, the state government is consistently continuing its emphasis on combating child and family poverty and is investing specifically in prevention, social participation, and equal opportunities.
The additional funding is also intended to be continued in the coming years. This will provide maternity clinics and their guiding services with the necessary planning security to accompany families permanently and reliably.
