Warum eigentlich nicht? Eine Analyse problematischer Betreuungsverläufe bei den Frühen Hilfen.

Frühe Hilfen is an innovative, successful social service aiming at early intervention. Only in a small number of cases does it seem difficult to establish a trusting care relationship, even though support is clearly needed. Despite the obvious need, the offer of support is declined. Why do some potential clients break off contact and/or no care relationship can be established? To answer this question, social work students followed up on 7 such cases. The biggest challenge was getting in contact with the clients whose expectations had not been met. Each case study was analyzed qualitatively and the results are presented in this report. The most obvious finding is the need for clear contracting. In care relationships it is of vital importance to include all parties in a clear contracting process for the areas in which care is needed and with what goal in mind. This safeguards against misinterpretation, unintended manipulation, defensiveness and disappointment. In addition, one must bear in mind the context of the first contact – in the case of referrals, misunderstandings can occur even before first contact and lead to disappointment.