After many warm words comes another appeal. “Talk about it, be role models for future foster moms and foster dads,” said Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) at the first Berlin-wide reception for foster families. “The need in Berlin is enormous,” he adds. In fact, the country is constantly looking for people who would take in a child long-term.
“You make the difference for these children,” Berlin’s Senator for Education, Youth and Family, Katharina Günther-Wünsch (CDU), thanked the around 650 foster parents present on Friday evening. Especially in turbulent times, it is even more important for children to have a permanent home. Günther-Wünsch says taking in children is a decision “from the heart,” and she wants to honor the foster families with a reception every year. She has taken in a foster son of her own who is now ten years old. It is her “heartfelt concern” to improve the conditions for foster families. “Because that’s what you need for conviction,” she says.
Around 1,800 children in Berlin currently live permanently with foster families or a foster parent. A lot has improved for her in recent years: Berlin raised the flat-rate care rates for the first time in 20 years in 2024, and the senator also raised one in 2025 Starting bonus care allowance introduced. It is intended to compensate for the fact that foster parents do not receive the parental allowance that biological parents are entitled to. “Berlin has launched a Federal Council initiative, and I have advocated that the coalition agreement at federal level now states that foster families should also receive parental allowance”; says Günther-Wünsch.
We need uniform rules and less bureaucracy
Eva Hiltner, foster mother
But they don’t want to wait until the federal government has made this decision, which is why Berlin will continue to pay the starting bonus money in the next two years. The success proves her right: “Berlin has since gained more than 70 new foster families, that didn’t exist before“, says Günther-Wünsch. In fact, the number of foster parents in Berlin had actually declined in previous years.
Youth welfare office at your place of residence
Another innovation is that since January the youth welfare offices have been responsible at the place of residence of the foster families. Previously, this depended on the place of residence of the birth parents, which often meant long journeys for the foster parents or – if the parents moved – also frequent changes.
The senator also wants to introduce independent advice centers for foster children and expand psychosocial services and trips for foster families in order to relieve the burden on families. She is also planning to set up crisis centers in every district and to better regulate them so that additional funding needs can be identified more quickly and less bureaucratically. The senator promised that she would also take care of structures for children who come of age but still need support.
“These are the right steps,” says a foster father who has been taking in children with his wife for 20 years. They currently have four foster children. “The care allowance was at the bottom compared to other federal states, and Berlin has finally caught up,” he says.
But there is still a lot going on. “The schools often don’t see the need, and our child doesn’t get the support they need to participate well,” he says. For example, they would have had to finance school assistance for one of their foster children themselves, i.e. a person who supports the child in class, for a year. “But taking in the children is great,” he says and beams.
Initiative wants more relief
“Thank you for the wet handshake. Foster families need real help – now!” is written on flyers that a newly founded initiative distributed on the bar tables at the reception. Here too, the three initiators say that taking in a child was the most important and best decision of their lives. But their children all have one disability or another. “We are at the limit,” says Eva Hiltner.
“All the beautiful words about love, security and that children need someone who sets boundaries – that’s beautifully said. But that doesn’t capture what we need from the Senate,” she says. She met the other foster mothers through a self-help group. Now they want to use an initiative to draw more attention to their problems and demands, and also support others in similar situations.
Reliable help from youth welfare offices, significantly more relief offers, therapy and counseling places so that stress does not escalate, and appropriate support through school supervision are their demands. And, very important: “We need uniform rules and less bureaucracy,” says Hiltner. Too often, help depends on the district or on forms. “Where there are problems and diagnoses, it must also be easy to get help,” she says.
I’m not giving up on my child, but the way we’re treated is unreasonable
Initiator of the network for foster children with disabilities
She and her comrades-in-arms have had long periods of suffering behind them. “The need is denied and downplayed,” says Gesine Wulf, also from the initiative. She now works part-time, otherwise she couldn’t provide care, “because my child often doesn’t fit in and also blows up situations“, she says. It is actually desired that foster carers reduce their hours. But if the workload is constantly overworked, some people will have existential fears because their work could suffer. “With support, we can do it. But under the conditions under which we are supposed to be a family, it is incredibly stressful. Hearing that we are supposed to be “multipliers” and telling others about it is a bit small,” she says.
Problems with school placement
“I’m not giving up on my child,” emphasizes another member of the initiative. But at the same time she experiences that the youth welfare office only reacts when she threatens to pull the ripcord. “The way we are treated is disgraceful,” she says.
During the reception, foster parents approach the newly founded “Network for Foster Children with Disabilities”. Antje Sonntag from Reinickendorf is there with her husband and their 9-year-old foster son. “Our child has not had a place at school for a year and a half”she turns to the three women from the network. Her son started school but couldn’t cope in the big class. He has a focus on social-emotional support, but does not have a learning disability. The costs for a school replacement initiative were not approved by the Marzahn-Hellersdorf Youth Welfare Office; further meetings and help conferences follow.
“The school authority was completely horrified and said we absolutely had to find a solution. That was six months ago”; says foster mother Sunday. “Meanwhile, our son is at home and my husband had to quit his job and apply for community benefit to look after him,” she says. The child has at least learned English well now. But a solution for regular school attendance is still not in sight. They are currently on the waiting list for a school with small classes; another position that was supposed to start in February has not yet contacted us. “We feel let down from all sides,” says Sonntag. But it is also clear to her and her husband: they will continue to fight for their foster son.