Encouraging Family and Parent Education - Program Development and Evaluation in the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by jay

The report examines the development and evaluation of the STÄRKE initiative launched in 2008 in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, within a Europe-wide governance strategy focused on strengthening support for parents and families. It describes two core program components: a voucher system for parents with newborns and an educational-offer element targeting families with special needs in specific living situations. The study evaluates whether program goals were achieved and highlights the intended deepening of cooperation between public and private services supporting parents and children.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background and policy context

Program approach in Germany

Improving Family and Parent Education in Baden – Württemberg: The STÄRKE Program

Program aims and components

Encouraging Family and Parent Education: Program Development and Evaluation in the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, Germany Sandra Landhäusser1, Stefan Faas2 and Rainer Treptow*3 • Against the background of a European-wide strategy of governance aimed at improving support for parents and families, the following report details the conceptualization and evaluation of a federal state program4 in BadenWürttemberg (Germany) which was launched in 2008 to encourage family and parent education. Two program components, a voucher system for parents with a new-born child and an element that emphasizes educational offers for families with special needs in particular living situations, were started to increase requests for educational courses. The aim was to establish and deepen cooperation between different public and private professional services that are in contact with parents and their children. The results show that main goals of the program were reached. Keywords: family and parent education, cooperation, voucher system, support for families with special needs in particular living situations, program evaluation 1 University of Tuebingen, Institute of Education, Department of Social Work, Tuebingen, Germany 2 University of Tuebingen, Institute of Education, Department of Social Work, Tuebingen, Germany 3 *Corresponding Author. University of Tuebingen, Institute of Education, Department of Social Work, Tuebingen, Germany; [rainer.treptow@uni-tuebingen.de](rainer.treptow@uni-tuebingen.de) 4 The label STÄRKE represents Stärkung der Erziehungskompetenz (strengthening of educational competence) . Spodbujanje izobraževanja staršev in družin: razvojin evalvacija programa v zvezni državi Baden – Württemberg v Nemčiji Sandra Landhäusser, Stefan Faas and Rainer Treptow* • Glede na to, da je široko po Evropi prisotna skrb za izboljšanje podpore staršem in družinam, v prispevku predstavljamo zasnovo in evalvacijo programa5, ki se je začel izvajati leta 2008 v zvezni državi Baden – Württemberg (Nemčija), in sicer z namenom spodbujanja povezovanjaizobraževanja staršev in družin. Začeli smo z dvema programskimaukrepoma za povečanje povpraševanja po izobraževalnih tečajih. Prvi ukrep je bil uvedba sistema vavčerjev za starše z novorojenčki, ki jeomogočil vključitev v različne oblike izobraževanja. Drugi ukrep jebil usmerjen v izobraževalno ponudbo za družne z otroki s posebnimi potrebami in družine s specifičnimi bivanjskimi razmerami. Namen programa je bil tudi poglobiti sodelovanje med različnimi javnimi in zasebnimi strokovnimi službami/ponudniki raznovrstne pomoči ter podpore za starše in družine. Evalvacija programa kaže na to, da so biliosrednji cilji izvedenega programa doseženi. Ključne besede: družinsko in starševsko izobraževanje, sodelovanje, sistem vavčerjev, podpora družinam s posebnimi potrebami vspecifičnih bivanjskih razmerah, evalvacija programa 5 Oznaka STÄRKE pomeni opolnomočenje izobraževalnih kompetenc. Introduction In many European countries, and throughout the world, family policies have experienced an expansion in recent times, although various countries still display enormous diversity and dissimilar preferences (Blum & Rille-Pfeiffer, 2010; Daly, 2013). Against this background, the topic of improving parent and family education has gained importance at all levels of politics (Euteneuer et al., 2011; Stauber, 2010; Uhlendorff, Rupp, & Euteneuer, 2011) . In Germany, in the course of addressing public responsibility for the support of parents and families, new and different concepts of learning opportunities for families have been developed. These concepts include formal courses and training as well as informal get-togethers, each containing varying topics and located at a variety of institutions. As several pilot projects have shown, the strengthening of parents’ competence in educating and caring for their children is not only affected by the educational resources the parents may have gained in

FAQs

What is the STÄRKE program, and where was it launched?

STÄRKE is a federal state initiative launched in 2008 in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, to encourage family and parent education.

What are the two main components of the program?

The program includes a voucher system for parents with a newborn child and an element emphasizing educational offers for families with special needs in specific living situations.

What cooperation goal does the program aim to achieve?

It aims to establish and deepen cooperation between different public and private professional services that are in contact with parents and their children.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by jay