Grüne on families

The Greens want to support trips for children and young people in Bavaria. Families with very little money should also be able to go on vacation. To that end, the income limits of Bavaria's family vacation program would be raised.

The Greens want to support trips for children and young people. Poor families should be able to go on vacation too. Bavaria has a program that helps pay for this. More families should get this money.

The program cites farm vacations and school trips as examples. The party sees such trips as important stimuli for young people's development. Higher income limits in the state family vacation program would make more families eligible for support.

The Greens want to anchor children's rights in the Bavarian constitution and expand protection from violence online and offline. A children's commissioner attached to the state government would publish a child protection report every year. The party cites Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Greens want to protect children better from violence. Children's rights should be written into the Bavarian constitution. A new person in the government looks after child protection. That person writes a report about it every year.

The annual report is meant to show progress and gaps so that targeted programs can follow. A statewide ombuds office would offer independent contacts for children, young people and guardians and help settle disputes with youth welfare offices out of court. Together with providers, programs to prevent child abuse would be launched; the state government's existing overall concept would be evaluated independently. Counseling centers would be expanded and made accessible, and police youth officers would get more staff. Schools are to offer courses on civic courage and act against the spread of depictions of violence and abuse and of extremist material.

The Greens want a youth center in every municipality and direct involvement of young people in decisions. Clubs and providers of out-of-school youth work as well as the Bayerischer Jugendring (Bavarian Youth Council) would be strengthened and reliably funded. Young people should be able to shape their free time as they wish.

The Greens want a youth center in every town. Young people should have a say in decisions. Clubs that do youth work should get more support. Rural areas should get more offers for queer young people.

Political decisions are always to be assessed for their effects on children and young people. The Bayerischer Jugendring would keep its self-organized form and receive sufficient funding. All-day school programs would be linked with clubs, parent initiatives and out-of-school youth work, whose continued existence would be funded permanently. The party plans additional services for queer young people in rural areas. A statewide strategy for education for sustainable development across all areas of education is also planned.

The Greens want to make the rules on matching funds in child and youth services more flexible and less bureaucratic. Small providers in particular are meant to benefit. Youth centers would also be able to offer activities built around video games.

Youth service groups often must bring their own money to get funding. The Greens want to change that. Volunteer work and goods should also count. Youth centers should also get money for playing video games together.

According to the platform, only cash currently counts as an applicant's own contribution in municipal and state funding calls. In the future, volunteer work, in-kind assets and administrative services would count as well. The platform calls child and youth services a mandatory task of the state. Existing youth centers would be funded so that young people can play together there and learn responsible gaming through accompanying educational projects.

The Greens want more and better daycare centers and plan an investment program and a skilled-staff program to get there. Opening and booking hours would be geared more closely to families' needs, for example for parents working shifts.

The Greens want more daycare places. Daycare centers should have hours that fit families better. This helps parents who work shifts. Daycare workers should earn more. There should be more staff for the children.

Staff would be paid better, starting during training, and the staff-to-child ratio would be raised. Directors would get more time for their duties, and pedagogical quality coaching would be offered everywhere. Home-based child care (Kindertagespflege) would get uniform pay across Bavaria and higher standards. Municipalities would be supported in building a pool of substitute staff to cover shortages. Inclusive daycare centers would receive more funding.