CHILD PROTECTION/REPATRIATION
A boy under guardianship in Germany is brought to Bulgaria by his father during a visit contact. The legal guardian files a missing person’s report and submits a child welfare alert to the Bulgarian authorities in whose jurisdiction the father is presumably staying with the minor. After the boy is found, he can be temporarily placed in a crisis centre. Cross Country Support coordinates and facilitates the return of the boy in cooperation with the German and Bulgarian authorities. The child is handed over to his guardian in Germany.
RELOCATION OF A BABY
A German woman gives birth to a child during a trip to Canada. She leaves the hospital and also the country without the baby and returns to Germany. The child is temporarily placed in a foster family. The local social service would like to transfer the responsibility to Germany as soon as possible. The Canadian court can only revoke the guardianship if the follow-up care is planned in Germany and the German YWO has guaranteed the immediate transfer of the child. The German YWO declares to take the baby into care as soon as it arrives in Germany but not to pick it up from Canada. Specialists from Cross Country Support receive the necessary power of attorney in Canada and bring the child to Germany.
ALTERNATIVE CARE ABROAD
A German Youth Welfare authority places a 14 year-old girl in an alternative care program with a foster family in Spain. The girl runs away and is picked up by the police in a border town in Portugal where she is taken into temporary care. Contact with the Portuguese child protection authorities can be established. A return to Spain is no option as the foster family refuses to take the girl back. The Youth Welfare Office in Portugal is willing to let the minor return to Germany under the condition that she gets picked up by German social workers. Cross Country Support takes over the communication with the Portuguese authorities on behalf of the German YWO and organizes the return. After a personal meeting with the institution in Portugal, CCS employees bring the girl back to Germany and hand her over into the care of the responsible Youth Welfare Office.
FAMILY REUNIFICATION
A migration counseling center in Germany is working with a family from Syria. While fleeing their country, the parents had to leave a small child with friends in Turkey. The family reunification is successfully applied for, but it is not possible for the parents to leave the country and pick up the child. There is no one on the Turkish side either who could accompany it. Cross Country Support communicates with the involved authorities and can finally take the child into their care and bring it to the parents in Germany.
SUPERVISED CONTACS
A pair of siblings was permanently placed in a foster family when they were young. With the consent of the biological mother, the foster family later moves to Argentina and visits the mother once a year in Germany. As the children get older, they want their mother to visit them in Argentina. A reunion is associated with uncertainties on both sides, also due to language barriers. The mother doesn’t dare to visit without professional support. After extensive preliminary discussions with all those involved, employees from Cross Country Support accompany the child’s mother on her visit to Argentina.
UNACOMPANIED MINORS
A 14 year old boy has come to Germany by himself and was taken into care. He states to have problems with his parents at home. After resolving their difficulties trough the involved social services he voices his wishto return to Albania. Cross Country Support gathers all relevant papers and takes the boy back into the care of his family.