The evaluation of the bridge projects by the Ruhr University Bochum and the University of Paderborn revealed that the bridge projects essentially pursue four areas of action in terms of concept and implementation: Cooperation with parents, relationships, creating trust and security (arriving), structuring everyday life and supporting children's skills.

However, the respective type of offer, the target group and the framework conditions must always be taken into account. Key points are, for example, the spatial situation. Stationary offers have the advantage that they often have more space available and take place in the same room. This allows you to create a diverse and stimulating learning environment. Mobile services generally take place in the immediate living environment of children and families. This is a low-threshold way of building trust and enabling a connection to educational services. However, mobile services often only have a limited amount of space available (e.g. in a minibus), which must be used flexibly for different situations. Cooperation with parents and families also varies depending on the type of service.

In parent-child programs, for example, parents are involved as active partners in the educational process right from the start. This naturally results in different opportunities to work with parents than in programs where the children are only dropped off and picked up. For activities with a very structured schedule, it is very easy to plan recurring elements to support the children's development. Mobile services are characterized more by the fact that they have a very flexible schedule, are strongly geared to the local conditions and the children and families may come and go flexibly during the service.

In the following, we would like to give you a few suggestions on how you can conceptualize and design a low-threshold offer. The reflection questions serve to scrutinize the concept of your offer and, if necessary, to obtain suggestions for further planning. Please bear in mind that not all questions apply equally due to the different types of services.

1. Where are parents and their children greeted and bid farewell?
How are the drop-off and pick-up times organized so that there is sufficient time for individual exchanges with parents?
2. What activities can take place during the drop-off and pick-up phase that also leave room for discussions with parents?
3. What opportunities are there during the day to talk to parents (e.g. on topics that are more time-consuming or sensitive)?
4. To what extent can meeting spaces be created in which parents and educational staff can exchange ideas (e.g. a small "tea or coffee corner")?
5. How is staffing planned so that children and parents can receive equal attention?

Situations may arise in which conversations with parents are more challenging due to language barriers. For communicative support, you can use picture cards, pictograms or illustrated information brochures, for example. For your conceptual planning, it is helpful to consider from the outset which support materials the educational staff can use for conversations with parents. It is also helpful to have a list of language mediators and interpreters that the educational staff can contact if required. In addition, addresses of specialists from other professions can also be included.

The "Arrival" field of action is essentially about the respectful interaction between the educational staff and children and families in the program. The results of the evaluation show that the educational staff are successful in building positive relationships with the children and responding sensitively to the children's needs (sensitive responsiveness). This includes, for example, responding promptly to the children, engaging and being involved in joint activities, dealing with the children's moods and emotions and encouraging children to try something new or unfamiliar. Certain framework conditions are needed to support this process. In addition to a varied and structured daily routine, reliable rules and rituals and a stimulating learning environment, this includes an appreciative attitude towards the individual characteristics of the children's personalities. The children come to the early education program with very different experiences. Some children have never previously attended external childcare or are not familiar with the pedagogical concepts of early education services in Germany. In addition, the children speak different family languages and sometimes have very different levels of development as far as the German language is concerned. This makes it all the more important to give children the opportunity to contribute with their individual personality traits. Multilingual contexts that value the children's respective family languages and incorporate them into educational processes are one way of responding to the children's personalities, for example.

Coordination processes with parents, which are necessary in the context of diversity education, are also very important. Families have had different socialization experiences due to their origins and are shaped by these social values, but above all by their own family value system. Above all, this can also include values relating to the upbringing of children. For example, family cohesion and community can be of greater importance than raising children to be autonomous and individual. The parenting style is therefore more connection-oriented. Relationships are often organized hierarchically and have a more binding character. These orientations have an influence on many everyday activities in educational settings. Parents experience that children are expected to get dressed on their own, go somewhere independently or, for example, are allowed to spoon food onto their plate themselves.

Pedagogical staff from bridging projects reported that this was perceived by some parents with a shocked expression and interpreted as uncaring towards the children or even described as a refusal of attention. This makes it all the more important to be transparent with parents about the educational approach in all educational programs. In order for pedagogical staff to be able to respond sensitively to these irritations, situation-specific specialist knowledge is required.

1. To what extent are the educational staff in the services aware of different socialization experiences due to their background?
2. What specialist knowledge do the educational staff need in order to be able to respond responsively or sensitively to children and families?
3. To what extent do the pedagogical staff receive training for further qualification?
4. What support material is made available to educational staff to strengthen them in their day-to-day educational processes in this regard?
5. What (multilingual) materials are available to the children to appreciate their personality traits?
6. How are pedagogical processes designed in the program so that the different personality traits of the children and families are taken into account?

A clearly structured daily routine helps children and families to find their way around an educational program and to engage with individual phases of the program. Regularly recurring routines offer reliability and security and enable children and families to act more independently. The structure of many bridging offers (field of action: structuring everyday life) is characterized by free play phases. In addition to structured learning processes, free play phases are essential for the positive development of children. During this time, the children explore their environment and decide for themselves according to their interests and needs what, where, how long or with whom they want to play.

The children immerse themselves in role-playing games, complex building activities, experimenting with different materials, solving problems independently and engaging in interactions and social relationships with other children. This behavior is supported in particular by a stimulating learning environment and responsive interaction by adults.

The design of a daily routine essentially depends on a balanced phasing of different activities. These should be structured to allow sufficient time so that children and adults can concentrate intensively on the respective phase, are not constantly interrupted in their activities and do not have to compulsively finish play activities that they have started.

The daily routine in low-threshold services varies greatly depending on the type of service. In playgroups, which are offered for half or full days, or in child day care, there are similar structures to those found in a child day care facility. These daily routines are essentially characterized by fixed drop-off and pick-up times, eating meals together, rhythmic phases of free play and joint play circles or guided indoor and outdoor activities. Playgroups, which are only offered for a few hours, and parent-child groups usually concentrate on fewer alternating phases. In mobile services, free play and supervised activities often take place in parallel due to the flexible structures.

When structuring into several phases, attention should also be paid to the alternation between guided activities, free play phases and rest and relaxation times. It is also a good idea to start and end the phases with recurring rituals.

1. Which rhythmizing phases are provided for in the concept of the educational offer?
2. How much time is planned for the individual phases?
3. To what extent is alternation between guided activities, free play phases and rest and relaxation times taken into account?
4. What room conditions influence the structured, phased process? How can the room be flexibly designed? How much time is taken into account for a possible conversion of the room?
5. How will staff be deployed to ensure the implementation of the individual phases?

The evaluation results show that one focus of the educational work in the bridging projects is on supporting the children's skills. In educational practice, the focus is often placed on promoting German language skills. This is an important basis for promoting child development, but should not be limited or reduced to this. Child development and education is a complex process in which language development plays a major role, but also encompasses other areas of education.

The focus is on the children with their individuality and heterogeneity as well as their interests and curiosity to discover and explore the world. Active engagement with the environment and interaction with an adult or other children triggers a wide range of educational processes. Educational processes should therefore be designed in such a way that children's development is promoted individually, holistically and in a resource-oriented manner in all areas of education.

It is assumed that cognitively stimulating educational processes can only be guided with linguistic support. However, children can also have stimulating experiences in a wide range of educational areas independently of language. The design of the learning environment plays a decisive role in this.

The more stimuli children receive from their environment, the more they have the opportunity to discover, research, experience and learn on their own and develop their individual skills. Children's curiosity about what is happening in their environment is awakened in a natural way. These experiences and actions can be accompanied by language. However, the focus is not only on the linguistic address, but rather on the interest that is awakened in the children through the stimulating learning environment

The family is an important point of reference for children's development. In this respect, good cooperation with families is also an important building block for the development of skills in early childhood care services.

A variety of educational processes can be stimulated in low-threshold offers. In the "Bridging Cultures" project, a large number of impulse cards have been developed for all types of bridge projects, which provide low-threshold play and material impulses as well as ideas for room design. The educational areas "Mathematical Education", "Movement", "Musical and Aesthetic Education", "Scientific and Technical Education" and "Language and Communication (Focus on Literacy)" are taken into account. The selection of educational areas is primarily based on low-threshold feasibility and practicability within the various forms of bridging projects or other low-threshold offers.

1. To what extent does the room design encourage children to engage cognitively in different areas of education?
2. What materials are available to support the children's skills?
3. How much time is given to the children in the daily structure of the program (free play) to independently engage with materials and games?
4. To what extent are guided activities by the educational staff anchored in the daily structure?
5. How extensively are opportunities for interaction between the children and the educational staff, between the children themselves and, if applicable, between the parents and their children made possible in the day-to-day educational process? Which ones?

Children are little explorers and researchers who want to discover and get to know the world. They approach new things with an open mind and curiosity. They playfully test and overcome boundaries and try out new things. They not only actively discover things, but also creatively transform them to suit their interests and needs.

A stimulating learning environment awakens children's curiosity and encourages them to try things out. Access to a variety of materials and different activities motivate children to engage independently with their environment.

Other factors such as the light and color of the rooms and the opportunities for movement and retreat also play a major role. A balanced variety of stimuli, the structuring of the rooms and the possibility of reinterpreting a room, i.e. being able to use a room imaginatively for different role-playing games, for example, have a great influence on children's well-being and stimulate them cognitively.

Here you will learn about the different effects of color, light and acoustics in a room, how you can use them and what you should pay attention to.

Colors are everywhere in our everyday lives. Whether outdoors or indoors, we associate colors with emotions and experiences that we remember later. The color of a room also influences our perception, making us feel comfortable or uncomfortable. Bright and bold colors attract our attention more quickly, while more inconspicuous or brighter colors convey calm.

The younger the children in the room, the brighter the colors should be. This way, the children are not overwhelmed by the many different color impressions. Even if the children spend a lot of time in a room or it is very large, pastel colors or colors with a high proportion of white should be chosen. Strong contrasts can be used to provide orientation, highlight certain corners and objects, set the scene or liven up the overall impression

Rooms with a short dwell time can be designed with more intense colors. In general, care should be taken to ensure that the colors are not too unnatural, as children find familiar visual habits pleasant. Warm colors have a stimulating and activating effect and convey a sense of closeness and security. Cool colors have a calming, relaxing and concentration-enhancing effect. The more saturated the colors in the room, the stronger their effect.

There are two types of light: daylight and artificial light. Daylight is described as the most pleasant lighting. As children are still learning the colors of objects and their surroundings and their sense of sight is still developing, natural perception should not be distorted over a large area by colored light, for example.

Despite this, light corners or islands in which, for example, many different colored lights are presented are definitely desirable. If the children can even switch them on and off themselves and thus get to know the objects in a different light according to their own perception, this becomes an exciting light adventure for the children.

Glare or reflections from artificial or daylight can irritate or disturb children. These can be reduced by using matt surfaces, blinds, light-diffusing materials or a different arrangement of lamps, for example.

Like the different colors, light can also appear warm or cold. Warm light creates a cozy atmosphere and dim light creates a cozy atmosphere. The use of lots of indirect lighting reduces contrasts in the room and promotes children's spatial perception. This consists of lamps that do not shine directly into the room, but are concealed by something so that they are reflected on the wall, for example

It is important to ensure that the ceiling is very bright so that the light can be distributed evenly throughout the room. The difference in brightness between the areas that are regularly visited should be as small as possible so as not to strain the children's eyes excessively.

Walking, running, jumping, stomping, arguing, laughing and dressing up as a princess or dragon: the world of children is full of colors and sounds. Even if these are perceived as "normal", they can quickly become too loud and unpleasant. If the personally tolerable noise level is exceeded, noises can become a burden. This can then manifest itself in the form of concentration problems, which can affect the learning process and development of both the teachers and the children. To prevent this from happening, various types of "silencers" can be used, for example. For example, a foam mat or carpet laid on the floor is ideal for absorbing and dampening some of the noise. Hanging sails or ceilings can also be used to deflect the sound (note: observe fire safety regulations).

Lacquered furniture, on the other hand, should be avoided: while unlacquered and open furniture reduces sound, lacquered furniture reflects the sound back and the room echoes, which can be perceived as very disturbing. Room dividers or shelves, for example, are therefore a good option to absorb the sound or allow it to pass through.

Noise can be more than just a burden, however. Regardless of how important it is for children to interact and play with each other, music can be used for relaxation, especially in quiet rooms (which we will discuss in more detail later). This should be played in the background and be quiet enough so that you can still have a good conversation even if your voice is muffled. In the best case scenario, the children can even switch the music on or off themselves if they want to withdraw and find the music disturbing. For example, you can place an MP3 player in a solid box or crate that plays music quietly. If the children want to listen to some music, they can open it up or close it again so that the music stops.

To ensure that children can explore the environment without fear and test their limits without hurting themselves, the following things should ideally be taken into account when designing a room:

Fall protection: Objects that are stored slightly higher must be secured in such a way that they cannot fall on the children.

There must be no sharp edges or corners or protruding hooks.

Moving parts of furnishings must be designed in such a way that there is no risk of crushing or shearing for children when in use.

Furniture must be designed, fastened and set up safely; this includes, among other things, locking devices for rollable elements, safety devices to prevent drawers from falling out, tipping and stable positioning of shelves, cupboards, etc.

Electrical safety measures, such as increased protection against accidental contact ("childproofing") of sockets, must be installed so that children cannot accidentally come into direct contact with electricity

If there is a risk of falling from a window, technical measures must be taken to prevent children from opening the window completely, but regardless of this, adequate ventilation must be ensured at all times.

Trip hazards should be avoided by, for example, colored signs or different material structure or lighting of critical areas.

Areas that can heat up considerably due to external influences must be shielded against excessive heat, e.g. in the form of effective external sun protection.

A structured arrangement of the equipment can help children find their way around the room. For example, signs or symbols can make it clear which area the children are currently in or where certain materials are located. If the materials and room are well organized, the children can find their way around more easily and, for example, put the materials away again independently. It is also important that everything "has its place". With the help of pictures and labels on the boxes, the children quickly learn what is in the boxes and what the individual items are called. The same system is also recommended on shelves or coat hooks (e.g. each child can be given a picture for their own hook), i.e. anywhere where differentiation is necessary.

In addition to the availability and (regular) exchange of materials, it also makes sense to incorporate different materials into the room design itself. For example, peepholes, mirrors, prisms or faceted lenses can change the perception of the room and inspire the child to look at things in new ways. These can either be attached directly to or in furniture or hung on walls or placed on the floor or on shelves.

Every available space can take on a function and provide children with a stimulating learning environment for specific areas of development.

Multiple rooms are not always available. In this case, smaller areas or corners can be created in a room to take over the respective functions.

A little tip: Separate areas with half-height furniture allow the children to withdraw and play in peace and quiet and the educational staff to observe the children during their activities without disturbing them.

Many low-threshold offers have fixed premises that they can design independently. These usually consist of a large group room that is used in a variety of ways. In this large group room, the functional areas can be designed as small 'islands' that are either permanently assigned to a theme or change thematically. It is a good idea to provide boxes with all the materials required for a specific theme, which are swapped at regular intervals.

Some activities do not have their own fixed premises, but are either mobile and bring their own materials or use the premises of a daycare center, which they cannot furnish or redesign. With a few tricks, however, it is possible to create the right environment for every activity. The main thing here is to make the available space stimulating with just a few resources.Impulses for room design in bridge projects

Based on the "Bildungskoffer NRW", double-sided impulse cards have been developed for selected educational areas to support pedagogical practice in low-threshold offers. The impulse cards take into account low-threshold feasibility and practicability within different forms of provision.

The impulse cards describe individual ideas for room design depending on the type of bridging project:

Children and families are welcomed and bid farewell in all services. With the exception of mobile services, where a flexible attendance structure prevails, playgroups and child daycare services are predominantly framed by fixed drop-off and pick-up phases. During these phases, the children and their families can be greeted and seen off individually. This personal approach fosters relationships, creates trust and shows appreciation. If the parents (or other family members) do not take part in the service, brief discussions can be held about the children or the content of the service, or organizational matters can be clarified. It is important to actively approach parents in order to reduce their inhibitions, among other things. You can use picture cards or pictograms to support recurring topics of conversation or to explain the structure and content of the program. This visual conversation method helps to break down language barriers, especially at the beginning. Interpreters or language mediators can also help to build a trusting relationship with the parents.

When planning your offer, it is therefore advisable to allow enough time for these phases and perhaps consider in advance which picture cards and pictograms can be used for language support during conversations with parents.

During the drop-off phase, there is a parallel free play phase for the children, in which they can occupy themselves according to their own interests and inclinations. This gives the children the opportunity to start the program at their own pace. If the parents take part in the program, they have the opportunity to start the program together with their children or to exchange ideas with other parents.

From the outset, parent-child activities are intended to be attended by children and their families. This eliminates a drop-off phase in which only the children are brought to the program. However, a flexitime at the beginning also enables a gentle introduction to this type of offer, during which children and their parents can get their bearings or have individual discussions in a free play phase.

After the drop-off or arrival phase, the activity can be started with a joint welcome. In many programs, a playgroup is held in which all children and parents participate. A recurring ritual that becomes familiar over time can be a common welcome song within the playgroup. The children (and parents) now start the activity together. Attendance can also be recorded and documented in a playful way. In some activities, the children then present what has been planned for the day. This can also be supported with picture cards or pictograms.

At the end of the activity, a joint farewell song can be introduced again as a ritual. The children (and parents) now know that the activity is over.

A play circle is a very good method for playing circle games or finger games together with the children (and parents), singing together or talking to the children about different topics (using picture books or picture cards). Recurring games or (multilingual) songs not only promote language development, but also give the children (and parents) confidence in using them. They can gradually become more involved and actively participate. It is also not unusual for children to want to play the same game twice in a row. Especially with new songs and games, repetition makes sense to enable the children to get more and more involved in further runs.

Depending on the type of program, the children and their parents also eat meals (that they bring with them). This can be done together after the playgroup, for example, or individually during a parallel free play phase. The children (and parents) then decide when to eat their meal within a specified time period.
Another ritual can be used for shared meals. This could be setting the table together, saying good appetite or singing a song. Tidying up after the meal can also be structured with consistent routines. These consistent routines give the children orientation and the greatest possible independence

In parent-child programs, it is advisable to eat together. During this time, you can also discuss various topics with the parents.

The free play phase should be divided into free and guided play situations. While the children (possibly with their parents) can engage with different games based on their interests and inclinations, joint games or activities should also be offered in which the children can participate. These could be board or rule games, craft activities, looking at picture books together or perhaps even small experiments. If necessary, involve the parents by playing a game directly with their children or painting or doing crafts together. This strengthens parent-child interaction and relationships. The free play phase should not be too short, so that the children can spend a lot of time on certain play activities. However, this phase should also last no longer than 45 to 60 minutes.

If possible, this time can also be used to go to the playground together or do activities outside. Alternate between opportunities inside and outside the rooms to give the children the widest possible range of experiences.

The free play phase can also end with a ritual. In some activities, the children walk through the room(s) with a drum and/or sing a song. The children now know that they should tidy up and meet at a fixed place. After arriving at the common meeting point (which should always be the same), you can now begin the next phase.

Depending on the type of activity, the activity may be over after this phase and the pick-up phase and joint farewell is due (usually for activities that only last around two hours). In these activities, the joint farewell ritual, e.g. in the form of a song, can be performed at this point.

In activities that take place over a longer period of time, joint activities outside the premises or movement activities can generally be carried out after the free play phase. The activity may end after this phase and the children are picked up or leave the activity location together with their parents.

If the activity takes place for longer, another meal should be eaten together after the movement activities or playing outside the premises.

Rest and relaxation phase

Orders that last longer than four hours should always include a rest and relaxation phase after the shared meal, during which the children can calm down. Either there is the opportunity for the children to withdraw and rest or there should be activities such as reading stories, looking at picture books together or similar.

In some educational programs, picture cards were displayed in the entrance area, which either depicted the daily structure or even a weekly structure of the educational work and structuring of the program. This gives parents, as well as the children, the opportunity to visually grasp everything that takes place in the program. When the weekly structure was illustrated, the current day was also marked. This made it easy to see that on Wednesdays there is always gymnastics in the nearby primary school gym or that on Thursdays a music teacher comes to play music with the children (and parents). The pictures were discussed with the children in the playgroup at the beginning so that they were aware of the meaning of the pictures. It was also possible to discuss with the parents when the children should bring gym clothes or suitable clothing for outdoor activities.

Repetition is important to support children's (language) learning. Games, songs or activities can easily be carried out several times in a row and over a longer period of time. Among other things, this allows children to acquire language structures and actively participate in games and activities.

A stimulating learning environment is essential for children's curiosity and cognitive and linguistic development. Several stimulus cards (link to stimulus cards) show ways of creating a cognitively stimulating learning environment and describe suggestions for play.

When working with families who have experienced flight, it can be useful to make use of professionals from other professions to provide further support to the families so that they can be referred to them quickly and easily. You can also make your own work easier, for example by relying on the help of language mediators or interpreters if there are language barriers.

If you would like to find out about current circumstances and dates on the topic of refugees, the Flüchtlingsrat NRW is a good place to go. On its website, the NRW Refugee Council provides information on current legislation and news from refugee policy as well as workshops, projects and further training. You can also receive this information regularly in a newsletter.

The municipal integration centers are specialist offices funded by the federal state of NRW. They also aim to promote equal participation in society for people with a migration background. The Municipal Integration Center creates transparency about existing services and focuses on networking and cooperation in its daily work. For example, newly immigrated families with school-age children can seek advice on how and where their child can be integrated into school. Interdisciplinary teams usually work here, cooperating closely with various offices, educational institutions, associations and institutions in the region.You will need to rely on contacts such as the migration assistance service, especially when it comes to legal issues. In some places there are special migration centers. If a family approaches you with legal questions, you can refer them to these contact points. They offer open consultation hours for people with experience of migration and flight, which can be accompanied by interpreters if necessary. The following topics, among others, are dealt with here: Asylum procedure and residence law, clarification of rights in the case of undefined residence status, integration and transition to school and work, naturalization, placement in qualification measures, return advice and help in crisis situations. The migration centers also provide advice in the event of imminent deportation and illegal residence, e.g. regarding medical assistance.

Communities, associations, institutions and organizations often offer help for families with refugee experiences and can also provide interpreters for your bridge project. In addition to the youth welfare office, these are independent organizations (e.g. Arbeiterwohlfahrt, the German Red Cross, Der Paritätische, Diakonie and Caritas). You should quickly find what you are looking for by searching the Internet for your location. The offers are usually free of charge.

Volunteer interpreters are an important resource when working with families who have experienced flight. You can obtain offers from language mediators at the municipal integration centers (usually for a fee). There is also the bikup gGmbH (International Association for Education, Culture & Participation) language mediator pool for NRW, which lists interpreters and language mediators from over 50 municipalities.

Refugee Aid offers people who have experienced flight advice and referral to specialists. Advice is provided in the areas of pregnancy, family, parenting and migration counseling. In addition, day care for children, youth social work, perspective counseling and return support as well as a tracing service are often offered. Depending on requirements, psychotherapeutic help, interpreters and medical assistance can be arranged.

The Youth Welfare Office supports parents and guardians in the education, upbringing and care of their children. The main aim is to provide preventative services to support families and create positive living conditions. Anyone can contact the responsible youth welfare office. Typical tasks of the youth welfare office are the organization of childcare, youth social work, educational counselling, the creation of a child and family-friendly environment and the protection of children's welfare

Pedagogues and psychologists work primarily in educational counseling centers. Parents and other guardians, as well as children themselves, can turn to the educational and family counseling centers for help with educational issues and personal or family-related problems. Their task is to advise and support parents in their parenting role. Together with those seeking advice, they clarify their problems and try to find solutions together.

Furthermore, social services are often offered by local organizations. Individuals and families in personal, family or financial difficulties can turn to these services. The causes of the problem and possible solutions are sought together. To this end, the staff provide information about the help to which people are entitled by law, develop a plan to improve the situation and, if necessary, can also put people in touch with specialist advice centers, e.g. on the subject of addiction or debt.Other specialists can also be contacted to support children with possible developmental problems. However, it should be noted that in some cases, the parents may need to consult a pediatrician, as these are subject to the prescription of remedies.

Logotherapists examine and treat people with speech, language, voice and swallowing disorders. Their patients are, for example, children who stutter or children with problems with language acquisition and pronunciation.

Ergotherapists advise, treat and support patients whose independence and ability to act is impaired or at risk of being impaired due to a physical or mental illness, disability or developmental delay. They develop individual treatment plans and carry out therapies and preventative measures.

Children and young people receive specialist medical examinations, care and treatment on an outpatient basis at social pediatric centers (SPCs). The staff provide support primarily in the case of illnesses or suspected illnesses that can lead to disorders in child development, disabilities, behavioral problems or mental disorders. Social pediatric centers only work on referral. There is close interdisciplinary cooperation with doctors in private practice, therapists, support facilities and the public health system. Families are involved in the treatment.

Early intervention centers advise families with children with (potential) disabilities from infancy until they start school. They offer medical, educational, psychological and social support. The staff support parents in coming to terms with their child's potential impairment and accepting it. They also offer help with parenting and provide information on the legal basis and financial assistance.

Child and adolescent psychotherapists diagnose mental disorders in children and adolescents and then treat them according to a treatment plan. Parents are usually involved in child and adolescent psychotherapy. Behavioral therapy is currently mostly used for quick help, as it can achieve rapid success. The aim is to achieve an improvement in the symptoms by changing the way the child thinks, feels and behaves. To this end, specific goals are formulated and these are gradually implemented with the help of specific exercises.

Housing associations manage and market residential properties and offer a point of contact if families with refugee experiences are looking for decentralized housing. Some families find themselves in unfavorable housing situations, which can also have an impact on their children's development.