Uwe Hacker leaves after 37 years: change at the top of the youth welfare office!

Uwe Hacker leaves after 37 years: change at the top of the youth welfare office!

A significant change is coming to the youth welfare office of the Munich district. After an impressive 37 years, Uwe Hacker is leaving the institution to retire on October 31, 2025. The committed specialist, who has headed the youth welfare office since 2006 and was previously deputy head for 12 years, has had a decisive influence on the development of child and youth welfare in the region. His focus was on putting the needs of children, young people and families at the center of his work. District Administrator Christoph Göbel highlighted this as particularly valuable in an appreciation by praising Hacker's humanity and commitment, which shaped the department over many years.

Uwe Hacker's successor will be Sarah Stadler, who has been working in the Munich district office for over 20 years. With her diploma in social pedagogy and a master's degree in social work, she not only brings extensive specialist knowledge but also in-depth experience to the new role. For the last two years she was deputy head of department and previously headed the prevention, advice and coordination department. At her side will be Dr. Monika Wilken will act as deputy manager. Dr. Wilken, a doctor of sociology and in the district office since 2019, is responsible for controlling and digitalization and will therefore play a key role in the further development of the youth welfare office.

Goals of youth welfare planning

As part of his historic term of office, Uwe Hacker emphasized how important timely support offers are for families in the district. Always in focus was the legal anchoring of youth welfare planning, which is a mandatory task of the youth welfare office in accordance with Section 80 SGB VIII. In October, the Youth Welfare Committee approved a concept for the further development of youth welfare planning, which pursues two main goals: the establishment of quality and controlling processes as well as dynamic, needs-oriented and regional planning.

In order to do justice to the differences between the needs in the different communities and cities, a dynamic and needs-oriented planning instrument should be developed. Youth welfare planner Sarah Stadler and controller Benjamin Schäfer have already concentrated on finding out which facilities and services are needed and in what quality. A central concern is to use existing resources efficiently and avoid expensive individual assistance.

Regional dialogues and pilot projects

As part of these efforts, Taufkirchen will become a pilot project for the implementation of so-called “regional dialogues”. Discussions will take place here from 2018, supported by a budget of 30,000 euros for extraordinary measures. The aim of these dialogues is to develop a standard concept for the entire district. The first evaluation results from Taufkirchen will be presented to the Youth Welfare Committee in the first quarter of 2019 in order to make progress visible.

Overall, the new management team under Sarah Stadler and Dr. Monika Wilken strives to preserve the existing structures and at the same time design new developments in a meaningful way. With a clear plan in mind, the two experts are looking forward to the next steps in youth welfare planning in the Munich district, which will be characterized by their agile and dynamic approach.