The funds could be called up immediately, said Minister of Social Affairs Scharf, emphasizing that it was the repeated case that the federal government “only failed” to deliver important funding programs. The daycare centers urgently need the money, for example for staff.
Good news for the day-care centers in Bavaria: The Free State is paying in advance for the payment of urgently needed support measures such as the so-called management and administration bonus. The funds could be called up immediately, said Social Affairs Minister Ulrike Scharf (CSU) on Tuesday after a cabinet meeting in Munich.
The Council of Ministers had previously decided to make the funds available “with reservations”, since the federal government’s payment was still delayed. According to the State Chancellery, the background to the delay is the late decision by the federal government in December 2022 on the continuation of the KiTa Quality and Participation Improvement Act (KiQuTG), i.e. the so-called Good-KiTa Act. “As a result, the support measures for Bavarian day-care centers could not be extended for the time being,” it said.
With the advance payment that Bavaria has now decided, “the massive uncertainties created by the federal government” for the daycare area should be compensated for, Scharf emphasized. The funds are already planned in the budget, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Social Affairs when asked. A resolution of the state parliament is no longer necessary. The Free State then wants to have the money reimbursed by the federal government.
Day-care centers need the funds, among other things, for new personnel measures or the continuation of measures that have already been started. According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, it expects feedback from the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs in mid-April. Sharp emphasized that it was the repeated case that the federal government “only botched” in important funding programs. Already with regard to the federal language day-care center program, which ends on June 30, 2023, his hesitation caused great uncertainty in the day-care center landscape. Bavaria therefore wants to continue it as a state program from July 1, 2023.
