Many minors grow up without parental care, whether due to family difficulties, flight or other strokes of fate. Volunteer guardians step in in these cases and take on a responsible role: they represent the young people legally, accompany them in their everyday lives and provide them with advice. This year, nine committed Bonn residents once again completed the training to become volunteer guardians and received their certificates for successful participation from Deputy Mayor Dr. Ursula Sautter at a ceremony.

The volunteer guardian training course comprises five modules and covers key topics such as guardianship law, youth welfare, liability issues and cooperation with various institutions. Due to the large number of unaccompanied minor aliens (UMA), the introduction to immigration law is particularly important. However, self-reflection is also a further focus in order to avoid excessive demands in this responsible work.

The newly trained guardians also receive further support and advice from the Coordination Office for Guardianships after their appointment by the family court.

Around 120 volunteer guardians have already been trained in Bonn since 2015. Anyone who is also interested in taking on a guardianship or would like to find out more in advance can contact the Coordination Office for Guardianships at the Office for Children, Youth and Family Affairs: Phone 0228 - 77 3178, e-mail: vormund@bonn.de. Information is also available at  https://www.bonn.de/themen-entdecken/familie-partnerschaft/vormundschaft.php. (opens in a new tab)