Early help: Strong support for families in Ravensburg!

Early help: Strong support for families in Ravensburg!

As part of the annual impulse discussion for early help network partners in the Ravensburg district, around 50 specialists met on June 23, 2025, including social educators, special education educators and midwives. This meeting focused on parental resilience, particularly in the context of mental illness. The clinician Dirk Dammann, head of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy in Holzminden and former chief physician of the children's clinics in Wangen, gave an impressive lecture on this topic, which was considered the highlight of the event. The impulse discussion offered those present the opportunity to intensively exchange and discuss technical and practical questions, which underlines the importance of such a dialogue.

The early help offer is aimed specifically at pregnant women and families with children between the ages of 0 and 3. The support aims to relieve parents who feel unsafe when dealing with their baby. This includes help with frequent crying, problems falling asleep or eating difficulties. Interventions for parents who feel overwhelmed or depressed, as well as promoting contact with their child, prove to be particularly important. This creates fundamental prerequisites for the healthy development of children.

Mental illnesses and their effects

Parents with mental and addiction disorders can have serious effects on their children's development in the first years of life. Research results from the National Center for Early Help show that these parents often experience increased stress and limitations in their parenting skills. Children from families with psychological problems are often assessed by pediatricians as not developing appropriately for their age. The early detection of parental illnesses and appropriate support are therefore crucial in order to offer children the best possible chance of growing up healthily.

The support must adapt flexibly to the parents' often fluctuating course of illness and take various impairments into account. Necessary offers include psychiatric and psychotherapeutic help as well as social-educational support. The need for well-coordinated measures and cooperation between various specialists in the areas of child and youth welfare as well as in the healthcare system was similarly emphasized during the impulse discussion.

Skilled workers and networking

The early help coordinators in the Ravensburg district were positive about the course of the impulse discussion and emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary specialist teams. These teams are critical to long-term improvements in families' lives and provide critical support for children's healthy development. The well-being of the affected families is directly promoted through trustworthy, voluntary and free support.

The relevance of early help and networking in the Ravensburg district was also discussed at a meeting of the family committee on December 18, 2024. Experts called for an increase in funding for early help and an increase in the age limit in order to be able to reach even more families. Studies show that over 90% of the professionals surveyed are able to detect signs of mental illness during checkups. This knowledge is crucial in order to be able to offer help at an early stage.

In summary, it can be said that early help plays an essential role in supporting families and at the same time helps to reduce potential risks for children and strengthen protective factors. It is a continuous process that requires good networking between different health and social services.

For more information about supporting families with mentally ill parents, visit the website Schwäbische.de and frueehehilfen.de.