Section 35a SGB VIII: integration assistance for children and adolescents

Legal status: 08.10.2026 (German federal law, checked against the statutory text; reform draft marked as a draft; status of the legislative procedure: 23.10.2026). The versions in force at the time of your application are decisive. Legal terms are translated here for understanding; the German wording of the law is what counts. This article describes the legal situation in Germany.

When the entitlement exists

The entitlement has two requirements, both of which must be met: ^[1]

1. Mental health deviates, with high probability for longer than six months, from the condition typical for the age, and
2. as a result participation in life in society is impaired, or such an impairment is to be expected.

Children and adolescents are regarded as threatened by a mental disability if an impairment of participation is to be expected with high probability according to professional knowledge. ^[1] So the help can start even before the impairment has occurred.

The opinion of a professional

On the question of whether mental health deviates, the youth welfare office must obtain the opinion of one of the following people: ^[1]

• a doctor specialising in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy,
• a child and adolescent psychotherapist or a psychotherapist with further training in treating children and adolescents,
• a doctor or a psychological psychotherapist with special experience in mental disorders in children and adolescents.

The opinion is to be drawn up on the basis of the International Classification of Diseases in the German version published by the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices. It must also set out whether the deviation has disease value or is due to an illness. If the opinion also contains statements on the impairment of participation, the youth welfare office should take these appropriately into account in its decision. The help should not be provided by the person, or the service or facility, to which the person giving the opinion belongs. ^[1]

How the help is provided

The help is based on the need in the individual case and can be provided: ^[1]

• in outpatient form,
• in day-care facilities for children or in other partly inpatient facilities,
• by suitable foster carers,
• in facilities providing day and night care and in other forms of housing.

The task and goals of the help, the determination of the group of people and the type and form of the benefits are governed by the provisions of the Ninth Book of the Social Code (Part 1 Chapter 6, section 90 and Part 2 Chapters 3 to 6). This applies as far as these provisions are also applicable to people with a mental disability or threatened by one and nothing different follows from the SGB VIII. ^[1] If help with upbringing must be provided at the same time, facilities, services and people who can fulfil both tasks should be used. Curative education measures for children who are not yet of school age should, if the need for help allows, take place in facilities in which children with and without disabilities are cared for together. ^[1]

What “mental disability” means in autism – and what is open

The law names no individual diagnosis. What matters is the deviation of mental health and the impairment of participation. Autism is not named in the statutory text. Whether a child with autism has a mental disability within the meaning of section 35a is therefore a question for the individual case and the professional opinion. Under section 10 para. 4 SGB VIII, integration assistance under SGB IX takes precedence for young people with a physical or intellectual disability. ^[2] How this is delimited for autism in the individual case is not covered here. An overview of who is responsible for what is given in the article Understanding the support system.

Reform planned: draft in the Bundestag, not yet valid law

The Federal Government has presented a draft law on the structural reform of child and youth welfare (Bundestag printed paper 21/8274 of 30.09.2026). Among other things, it provides for adapting section 35a to the concept of disability of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. ^[3] The Bundestag debated the draft in first reading on 8 October 2026 and referred it to its committees; ^[4] the lead committee heard experts on 12 October 2026. ^[5] The draft is not yet law; until it is promulgated, section 35a applies in the version described above. Whether and in what form the law will come is open.

Sources and literature

1. § 35a SGB VIII – Eingliederungshilfe für Kinder und Jugendliche mit seelischer Behinderung oder drohender seelischer Behinderung (Abs. 1 bis 4). https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/sgb_8/__35a.html – Statute (German federal law, in German)
2. § 10 Abs. 4 SGB VIII – Verhältnis zu anderen Leistungen und Verpflichtungen. https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/sgb_8/__10.html – Statute (German federal law, in German)
3. Bundesregierung: Entwurf eines Ersten Gesetzes zur Strukturreform der Kinder- und Jugendhilfe (1. KJHSRG). Deutscher Bundestag, Drucksache 21/8274 vom 30.09.2026. https://dserver.bundestag.de/btd/21/082/2108274.pdf – Draft bill, not valid law (in German)
4. Deutscher Bundestag: Erste Lesung der Strukturreform der Kinder- und Jugendhilfe am 8. Oktober 2026 (www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2026/kw41-de-kinder-jugendhilfe-1217552). Retrieved 23.10.2026 – Parliament news (in German)
5. Deutscher Bundestag: Anhörung des Ausschusses für Bildung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend am 12. Oktober 2026 (www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2026/kw42-pa-bildung-1221766). Retrieved 23.10.2026 – Parliament news (in German)