What is "jugendamt"

Jugendamt ( German: Youth office) is a German and Austrian local agency set up to promote the welfare of children. Each municipality, town or “Kreis” (county) – depending on its size – has its own “Jugendamt”. Its structure is flat and does not have any centralized country-wide (own or federal) coordinating office. In Germany the youth offices were created during Weimar Republic by the “Reichsgesetz für Jugendwohlfahrt” of 1922, in force since 1924. Since beginning its internal regulations are left without any major changes. Like many other organisations, the youth offices were terribly abused in Nazi Germany, because its functions back then were taken over by Hitlerjugend. Since the local organizations function independently there is no actual federal administrative supervision. Except that, functions and powers of the youth offices in present Germany and Austria are very much similar to what the Child Protective Services in the US and the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in England and Wales do.