The number of inclusion support services for children, adolescents, and young adults, which includes individual academic support, has seen a significant increase in recent years. According to data released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Wednesday, support providers in youth welfare granted nearly 174,000 such services in 2024. This represents more than double the number provided in 2014, which saw approximately 80,800 supports granted to young people with mental disabilities.
These services are intended to assist children, adolescents, and young adults who are affected or at risk of mental impairment, helping them participate fully in social life. Support types include counseling and therapy, as well as kindergarten and school assistance and integration aid. These forms of assistance have gained importance in the daily school life and are likely a contributing factor to the rise in granted supports. They target young people whose mental health deviates from typical levels for their age, thereby compromising or threatening their ability to participate in society.
In 2024, inclusion supports were initiated for a variety of reasons. By far the most common reason was mental health issues or developmental abnormalities (69%), which included anxieties, suicidal tendencies, or developmental delays. In 53% of cases, the aid was provided due to academic or professional difficulties, such as ADHD, hyperactivity, or school avoidance. Social behavior issues like isolation, drug use, or aggression were noted in 36% of cases. Sometimes, multiple reasons were cited for the initiation of support. On average, an inclusion support program lasted nearly two years (23 months).
Regarding demographics, 45% of supports in 2024 were used by children aged 6 to 11, while 42% were sought by children aged 12 to 17. Individuals aged 18 or older (11%) and children under 6 (2%) were less frequently involved. Furthermore, seven out of ten people receiving support were male (70%).
Spending on inclusion support for mentally impaired children and adolescents has risen sharply over the past years; expenditures have more than tripled within a decade. Only for minor children and adolescents, the expenditure by the federal government, states, and municipalities reached 3.5 billion euros in 2024. This figure was well under 1.1 billion euros in 2014. Consequently, the share of these supports within the overall expenditures of youth welfare for single and group care and other tasks under the SGB VIII has also grown, climbing from 8% in 2014 to 12% in 2024. For contextual comparison, total spending on youth welfare between 2014 and 2024 more than doubled, rising by 108% to 78.8 billion euros. This includes costs for daycare, educational assistance, social pedagogical family support, and youth work services.
The increase in demand is also evident within the school system, where more children and adolescents are being identified as having special educational needs. While these categories are not identical to the reasons for the inclusion supports mentioned above, the number of pupils in general schools with the “emotional and social development” focus has grown by 44% over the last ten years. For the 2024/2025 school year, this group comprised 111,700 children and young people. Of these, over half (58%) were educated inclusively in regular schools, while the remainder attended special needs schools.
Overall, the number of students supported with special educational needs across all school types increased by 28% within the past decade, reaching 610,800 students for the 2024/2025 school year. This includes students with developmental delays in emotional and social, physical, or mental areas, as well as those with learning, visual, auditory, or language support requirements. Crucially, while there are more support provisions available, students are also increasingly being integrated into regular schools. Over the same ten-year period, the number of integrated students in regular schools rose by nearly three-quarters (77%) to 270,500 in the 2024/2025 school year. Meanwhile, the number of students in supportive special needs schools increased slightly by 5% to 340,300.
