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Safety net for young people in Bremen: New residential group opens!
On September 1, 2025, the Johanniter opened a residential group in Bremen for troubled young people with a variety of restrictions.
Safety net for young people in Bremen: New residential group opens!
On September 1st of this year, Johanniter Youth Welfare (Joju) opened a new residential group in Bremen, which is intended to serve as a safe haven for children and young people with psychological, emotional or physical stress. The need is great: many of these young people have already gone through various types of housing and have not been able to stay there permanently. The new facility is now trying to offer them a real perspective, as [Weser-Kurier] reports.
The facility is located in the Medicum on Züricher Straße and offers a total of 13 inpatient places for adolescents between the ages of 10 and 17, although in exceptional cases care up to the age of 21 is also possible. Five young people are currently living there, supported by an intensive care team of two specialists per child. Special attention is paid to the individual needs of children, who often have complex diagnoses, including autism, schizophrenia or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
A passion project with many facets
The team will be built up gradually: the 18 currently employed employees will grow to around 30, with specialists with special talents, be it in music or crafts, being part of the team. This is part of the educational approach, which aims to promote community and individual boundaries among residents. In the spacious, barrier-free rooms, the children have apartments, retreats and common areas available to them.
In addition to living space design, support in everyday life plays a central role. School assistance, alternative school offerings as well as creative and craft activities ensure that young people are not only looked after, but actively integrated into society. The aim of the facility is to help children and young people overcome crises together and to make it clear to them that, despite their difficulties, they have a place in society.
Comprehensive support through integration assistance
A key aspect of this initiative is the integration assistance provided for children, adolescents and young adults with mental disabilities. You are entitled to various benefits that are intended to help ensure your participation in social life. These include, among other things, medical rehabilitation, help with appropriate schooling and support offers for vocational training, as [Family Portal] and [Betanet] urgently explain.
Support takes place in various forms such as outpatient help, day-care facilities and inpatient forms of living. An application for integration assistance can simply be submitted to the responsible youth welfare office. It is then checked whether the requirements for funding are met, which usually requires a professional opinion from a doctor or psychotherapist.
With the new residential group in Bremen, Johanniter Youth Welfare not only focuses on individual support, but also makes an important contribution to social acceptance of children and young people with mental disabilities. If all goes well, these young people could embark on new paths in life and finally receive the support they need. Those responsible in Bremen also see the project as a model that could already be implemented before the far-reaching changes to the Child and Youth Strengthening Act 2028.