Will daycare centers and clinics soon be lacking helpers?

Berlin. Associations are sounding the alarm: Due to the budget impasse, the financing of the federal voluntary service is no longer secure.

The end of the Berlin traffic light coalition could soon have significant consequences for hospitals, nursing stations, daycare centers or youth centers in Germany: major ones Aid organizations and welfare associations warn that the impasse over the 2025 federal budget is also disrupting the plans for the federal voluntary service. Since its financing is now on shaky ground, certain positions could not be filled.

A young man helps at school and supports a child in learning to write. The Federal Voluntary Service has existed since 2011.
© bafza | Ann Bertram

The chief executive of the Worker Samaritan Association (ASB), Uwe Martin Fichtmüller, told this editorial team that he feared massive cuts. “The voluntary services have entered a downward spiral.” A system that has been shut down in this way cannot be restarted at will. At ASB, compared to 2024, only around half of the places in the federal voluntary service for 2025 have been filled. “The funds for around 334 places had already been activated before the government failed; financing for the second half is uncertain without an existing budget resolution for 2025,” said the ASB general manager.

Also the capacities for the educational support of the volunteers as well as instruction structures in the Places of operation must now be reduced. Fichtmüller called on all democratic parties to ensure full funding as quickly as possible.

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The German Caritas Association also warns of considerable risks Cuts. President Eva Maria Welskop-Deffaa told this editorial team: “Without clear financial commitments and a reliable perspective beyond 2025, voluntary services cannot be continued; the sponsoring organizations will not be able to plan and use placements in daycare centers, hospitals, assistance for the disabled or in environmental projects .” Welskop-Deffaa added: “The German Caritas Association is emphatically demanding the right to a voluntary service place for every young person who would like to get involved.”

Caritas: Enough people interested in the services

According to Caritas, many contingents in the Federal Voluntary Service cannot currently be documented due to the lack of release of funds. A interested parties However, there is no shortage of federal voluntary service, the problem is the uncertainty regarding funding.

The Federal Voluntary Service has existed since 2011. Within its framework, volunteers of all ages – Bufdis Named – the opportunity to commit to the common good for at least six and a maximum of eighteen months. The service was previously created because the suspension of compulsory military service also meant that young men were no longer required to do community service. Without volunteers, the staffing shortage in social services and related sectors would be much greater than it already is.

Bufdis receive monthly pocket money

The Bufdis receive monthly pocket money and, if necessary, other benefits from their placement locations. The federal government bears a large part of the costs. Last month there were almost 35,000 Bufdis across Germany, the vast majority of whom were younger than 27 years old. In addition to the Federal Voluntary Service, there is also this Voluntary social year and the Voluntary Ecological Year. Typically, services begin after the summer holidays each year. But there are also volunteers who want to start right after the turn of the year or in the spring.

The Berlin traffic light coalition broke up at the beginning of November. One consequence is that the 2025 federal budget will no longer be passed as planned. The current government made up of the SPD and the Greens does not have a majority in parliament for this. As things stand, there will only be a regular budget for the coming year once a new coalition has been formed after the new elections planned for February and a new government will issue a revised one Budget draft has submitted. It could still be months after the elections before this happens.

Plenum of the Bundestag in Berlin: After the traffic light coalition collapsed, the budget for 2025 can only be passed after new elections.
© dpa | Kay Nietfeld

This means that at the beginning of the new year the so-called interim budget management What will happen is that the state can initially only make expenditures that are necessary to fulfill legal obligations and maintain administration. The Ministry of Finance can also allow the other departments to use a certain part of the budget approach that has not yet been approved each month.

Preliminary budget: Waiting for the Finance Minister’s letter

The new Finance Minister Jörg Kukies (SPD) will soon initiate the provisional budget management with a circular. When this letter will be published is unknown. Only then will it be clear what happens next with the financing of the federal voluntary service. Already in Draft For 2025, it was planned to cut funding for voluntary services by around 40 million or twelve percent compared to the previous year. This alone would have put pressure on the significant sponsors. The impasse with the budget is now getting even worse.

Capital Inside by Jörg Quoos, editor-in-chief of the FUNKE central editorial team

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When asked, the family ministry headed by department head Lisa Paus (Greens), who is responsible for voluntary services, said that all agreements concluded in the current year are fully valid and could also be in 2025 without any compromises be paid. Conversely, this also means that new agreements are difficult as long as it is not clear whether and to what extent the money will flow from the federal government.