Street kids in Germany

In Germany there are up to 2.500 runaways every year. More than 300 children and youths, from 12 years of age and up, finally are living on the street. They flee from negligence, illtreatment and abuse, and live by the way of begging, prostitution and petty theft. Street kids dream of a safe and secure place and don’t want to live on the street forever. Quite often they are inconspicious, young people - without apparent signs of distress. They come from all classes and walks of society and are not only found among bright-haired punks. They would like to go to school or to start a professional training. Sensitivity is often a distinguishing trait. Many of them are from rural backgrounds and hope to find happiness and luck by disappearing into the anonymous life of a big city.

Countrywide Street Social Work

The aim of Countrywide Street Social Work is to see that the “runaways” never become street kids at all. The Off Road Kids’ Street Social Work attaches great importance to inquiring about the individual's best possible future prospects as quickly as possible. The distance to the home towns of these young people is not of primary importance because Off Road Kids operates all over Germany. Therefore young people can be accompanied, for example to their families, to the authorized youth welfare office or to a therapy centre, at long distances if needed. This is the fundamental difference between Off Road Kids and all other available local help organisations. Off Road Kids has street social work-branches in Berlin, Dortmund (the Ruhr area), Hamburg and Cologne, due to the fact that most young people who have been trying to survive on the street for a while, often turn up in one of the larger cosmopolitan centers after a short time.

Contact Hotline

A free-of-charge Off Road Kids emergency number is available to all young people in care, around the clock. The young people can maintain contact with the Off Road Kids’ street social workers even when they don't live on the street anymore. This way the Off Road Kids’ street social workers can intervene immediately.

Parents Hotline

Off Road Kids also advises parents whose children are threatening to run away (or have already done so), who are in contact with the street scene, or who have turned to prostitution. For this reason, Off Road Kids has set up a parent hotline. Well-experienced, qualified workers are available to support parents.

Countrywide Street Social Work: the Results

Our job is to investigate the best possible future prospects for every single street kid. The successful number of cases is encouragingly high: Since 1994 Off Road Kids has been helping street kids in Germany and has made it possible to find a new future for more than 2.600 young people (Sept. 2009).

Residential Youth Groups

Young people who cannot find help in their families or in their home town youth welfare, can be given accommodation and assistance by the Residential Youth Group in Bad Dürrheim (in the Black Forest / Germany) which offers intense care and support. In the Residential Youth Group in Bad Dürrheim, they can start studying for their final school examinations or a professional training program of their choice. With the second children’s home we provide rooms for the intense cure of 18 children.

Institute for Pedagogic Management IfPM

The key to integrating young, underprivileged people into the workforce and thereby into the society, are qualified educational professionals mentoring them. The educational level of pedagogues is often criticized and hence Off Road Kids wants to clearly improve this qualification by implementing its Institute for Pedagogic Management. Off Road Kids understands pedagogy as a subject of management - therefore the knowledge of educational science and professional communications needs to be combined with management skills. The Institute for Pedagogic Management (IfPM) is tailored to meet these requirements. For the first time in Germany there will be a part-time undergraduate program for pedagogues without A-level, but a some time of work experience. The students will graduate with a “Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)” after the 3-years-program. The IfPM is a co-operation between the private Steinbeis University, Berlin and Off Road Kids.

Your Sponsorship Helps

Off Road Kids finances the total Countrywide Street Social Work exclusively from sponsorship. The chief supporters are: the Vodafone Foundation Germany, Deutsche Bahn, Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall, Permira, Alcatel-Lucent. Other supporters are the Global Biking Initiative, the Franz Beckenbauer Foundation, the Red Nose Day (ProSieben TVchannel) and numerous Lions and Leo Clubs.

Please donate

Off Road Kids Stiftung
Bank: Volksbank Villingen e.G.
Account: 10 10 10
BLZ: 694 900 00
IBAN: DE51694900000000101010
BIC/SWIFT: GENODE61VS1