Akti(F) Plus - Active for families and their children

The Akti(F) Plus programme aims to improve the living situation and social inclusion of families and their children who are at risk of social exclusion and poverty.

Akti(F) Plus is designed to respond to the increased individual support needs of families and their children.

The target group includes:

• Families/parents with children receiving benefits under Book II or Book XII of the German Social Code (SGB II or SGB XII) (including supplementary benefits or "top-up" benefits).
• Families receiving child benefit supplement and basic child assistance in future or who are eligible for it.
• Families, i.e. parents - and, where appropriate, other adult members of the household (e.g. common-law partners) - and their children at risk of social exclusion and poverty.

Funding is provided for activities that improve the social and economic participation of the target groups by comprehensively supporting parents in stabilizing the individual living situation in their families and by establishing long-term prospects for access/entry into the labour market, for example by sustainable and gradual entry into or expansion of employment (individual target 1) and by contributing to the establishment and expansion of cooperation structures to better support the families (individual target 2).

Possible approaches are:

• Counselling and coaching services, family coaches (guides/navigators/mentors) tailored to the individual needs of the target group of unemployed parents and which are provided in addition to, and beyond the benefits provided under Book III and Book II of the Social Code (SGB III and SGB II). The focus of comprehensive counselling is on individual and/or family problems and social problems preventing social inclusion and the take-up of employment in the long term (e.g. restricted mobility, lack of childcare, lack of structure in their daily lives, conflicts and problems in the access to and contact with authorities, debts or addiction problems).
• Supporting families in applying for social benefits and obtaining local education and support services.
• Counselling or coaching services are designed to enable working parents to stay in employment and/or to expand their employment into employment that meets their livelihood needs.
• Supporting parents with disabilities, in particular in claiming and using benefits and services in line with their needs to promote their participation in working life or in claiming supplementary occupational assistance under Book IX of the Social Code (SGB IX). The counselling services are provided in close consultation with the relevant employment agencies, job centres or rehabilitation funds.
• In order to achieve the objectives of the programme, the improvement of structural and cross-jurisdictional cooperation (e.g. SGB II, SGB III, SGB VII, SGB VIII/KKG [Act on Co-operation and Information for Child Protection Enhancement], SGB IX and SGB XII) will be supported and reinforced at local level. The insights gained in the Akti(F) 2020-2022 pilot programme are being harnessed to further develop successful approaches in the new ESF Plus funding period 2021-2027. To this end, project operators (grant recipients) are to work together with other partners in the region in cooperation or project networks with the active involvement of the local employment service (job centres and/or employment agencies) and local authorities (cities, districts and municipalities). Both individual targets are to be implemented.
• As a complementary measure, an overarching networking centre will be funded whose work will in particular help accompany and support the Akti(F) Plus projects in the context of the implementation of target 2 concerning cross-jurisdictional cooperation.
• Funding is available for projects in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In the federal states of Hamburg, Saarland and Saxony, funding can be provided for certain social environments (in Saxony only where the TANDEM Sachsen ESF Plus programme is not implemented at the same time). No funding is provided in the federal states of Bavaria, Brandenburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.

Selection procedure for the projects

The selection procedure for the submitted declarations of interest has been completed. 56 declarations of interest (including for the overarching networking centre) were selected and accepted for the application procedure. The project is expected to start at the beginning of September. A list of all funded Akti(F) plus projects will be published following the approval procedure.