The
The Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Kinder- und Jugendhilfe (AGJ) is a nationwide forum and network that has been consolidating the organizational and professional structures of child and youth welfare in Germany since its founding in 1949. The AGJ unites over 100 member organizations, including federal youth associations, peak organizations of free welfare, specialized organizations of child and youth welfare, supreme youth and family authorities of the states, as well as federal working groups and associations for personnel and qualification in child and youth welfare[1].
The AGJ sees itself as a representative of the interests of child and youth welfare, with the central task of promoting the unity of youth welfare. It works across different providers and fields of action and cooperatively to represent the interests of children and young people at the federal level as well as in the European and international context. The guiding principles of the AGJ are communication, competence, and cooperation, which form the basis for its work[1].
The AGJ itself does not provide direct services for young people but supports and coordinates the work of its member institutions and organizations. These offer a variety of services for children, young people, and their families, such as youth policy and professional policy communication and cooperation, inclusion legislation, protection concepts against sexual violence, and digital protection concepts[1][4].
The AGJ is committed to various sustainable goals and initiatives:
The AGJ actively positions itself on current issues:
The AGJ is a central actor in German child and youth welfare, significantly contributing to the improvement of living conditions for children and young people through its extensive network work and its professional policy competence.
