Promoting education and participation

Education and Participation: Increasing Take-Up of the BuT Package

Family Minister Verena Schäffer, Photo: MKJFGFI / B. Thissen

Verena Schäffer, Minister for Family Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia:

“Poverty poses the greatest risk to the future of children and young people. We must therefore ensure that all young people in North Rhine-Westphalia have the opportunity to realize their potential and participate in society. That is why it is so important that the funds earmarked for strengthening the participation of children and young people affected by or at risk of poverty—and intended to enable them to grow up in a good and healthy environment—actually reach them. Together with local stakeholders, my goal is therefore to further increase the uptake of educational and participation services.”

Factors influencing the use of social and family benefits

The use of social and family benefits depends on a variety of factors. The relevant research literature shows that families’ individual resources and the design of the benefits are of central importance:

Individual resources

Eligibility and knowledge of how the system works ➔ Basic requirements for eligibility
Experience with other social benefits
Information-seeking behavior
Socioeconomic situation of the family: Living conditions and income situation
Sociodemographics: Educational level, language skills, and gender

Design of services

Complexity (e.g., application process)
Effort required of applicants
Communication from authorities when new benefit entitlements arise or become effective
Reliability of the benefit (including amount, risk of repayment, adjustments over time, automated payment)
Signal effect and image of the benefit

Source: Author’s own presentation based on: Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) 2016, Harnisch 2019, Bruckmeier et al. 2013, Baisch et al. 2023, Eurofound 2015, Friedrichsen and Schmacker 2019. © Prognos AG 2025

To identify specific ways to improve the uptake of educational and participation services in North Rhine-Westphalia and to develop tailored measures, the Ministry of Family Affairs is taking a multi-step approach:

Dialogue process

Two workshops with local stakeholders focused on an initial exchange of experiences regarding administrative practices in implementing the Education and Participation Package, as well as identifying and developing examples of best practices.

Under the title “Enabling Participation – Success Factors for Increased Utilization of the BuT Package in North Rhine-Westphalia,” the Ministry of Family Affairs launched a dialogue with professionals from public administration and other organizations on November 28, 2024, in Düsseldorf and on November 29, 2024, in Dortmund. The expert input from Prognos AG as well as the documentation from both workshops are available for download in the sidebar.

Enabling Participation: Highlights from November 28, 2024

Survey of Skilled Workers

An online survey on the Education and Participation Package (BuT) conducted in the spring of 2025 aimed to gather feedback and assess the structures of the BuT at the local level, as well as to obtain assessments of barriers and factors facilitating access, and suggestions for its implementation at the local level. In addition, the survey took the opportunity to inquire about and systematically collect existing examples of best practices.

The survey targeted managers from institutions that assist families with BuT applications and/or are responsible for approving BuT benefits.

One finding of the state-wide online survey is that the biggest hurdles for families are often language barriers, a lack of information about the benefits, and the sometimes cumbersome application process. Authorities also cite incomplete applications, a lack of resources, and insufficient digitization as key problems. Furthermore, the survey makes it clear that many municipalities already have close cooperation structures in place, for example with schools, daycare centers, or school social work. At the same time, there is a significant need for improvement regarding the digital application process. Only 20 percent of municipalities offer a digital application.

All survey results are available for download in the sidebar.

Public relations materials

Workshops and the survey have revealed that there is a shortage of suitable public information materials in some local areas—particularly multilingual information and materials in plain language.

The Familienportal.NRW offers multilingual informational materials for families and professionals. Posters, postcards, and informational flyers in German, English, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Turkish, Arabic, Ukrainian, and in easy-to-read language can be ordered free of charge or downloaded digitally.

Theme-based workshops

Following up on the workshops and survey that had already been conducted, two thematic workshops took place in January and February 2026. These were aimed specifically at professionals working in local governments.

A two-part online workshop titled “Isn’t there an easier way?” focused on the topic of data exchange. Mr. Lukas Gruszewicz, Data Protection Officer and lecturer in the field of social data protection, presented the principles of data exchange both between public authorities and between public authorities and third parties. In the second part of the workshop, participants were able to ask questions based on their practical experiences.

The topic of administrative procedures was the subject of another workshop held in Bochum in February 2026. Various approaches to streamlining and optimizing administrative procedures were discussed.

Documents and materials related to the workshops are available for download in the sidebar.