The diocese of Osnabrück has decided on a considerable increase in its 2008 budget for the running of its own kindergartens that provide places for 17,500 children in all. The supplementary funding of 1 million euros will be used to consolidate the work performed in the structures in terms of teaching and care. The diocesan kindergartens will thus be able to benefit from a total allocation of 6.6 million Euros next year. “We are transforming our kindergartens into homes for children and families. Their provision of care will also be improved”, announced the vicar general Theo Paul, on presenting the programme at a news conference in Osnabrück on 11 October. “The well-being of families and especially of children is fundamental for us. If for families the compatibility between family and work is often a problem, we wish to help relieve it. We also wish to assume our responsibilities to single mothers and fathers”. 26 of the 204 kindergartens present in the territory of the diocese are participating in a pilot project for the development of “homes for children and families”. These are structures which, apart from traditional assistance, offer other options for the support of families, in the form of seminars or counselling. A second objective of the pilot project is the religious education of children and parents. The kindergartens of the diocese are also preparing to extend their assistance: hitherto an offer of fixed assistance for four hours was available, with particular opening hours based on the local situation. In response to the needs of families, however, the hours in which parents may leave their children in kindergarten will be raised to five or six. The options for all-day assistance will also be reinforced”. “This added provision of services – comments the vicar general – represents a genuine improvement of our work. It costs money. But it’s an investment in the future”.
