Early Childhood Interventions

"Frühe Hilfen" supports pregnant persons and families with small children aged 0 to 3 years. A family supporter works with the family to find out what they need. If necessary, they will also organise support.

"Frühe Hilfen" supports pregnant persons or parents: family supporters....

• listen
• answer questions
• give tips
• help with filling out applications, for example
• refer you to specialised support services, if required
• Family supporters only do all this if you wish and need them to
• To this end, a family supporter will visit you at home. This person knows the region well and knows which service is suitable for you. It is important to talk openly about the situation and the challenges together. It takes a little time and patience for trust to develop. This is the only way you can get good support.

The family supporters of "Frühe Hilfen" are not household helpers or babysitters. "Frühe Hilfen" does not provide financial support either. However, family supporters support families so that they can make use of certain financial benefits. 

You do not have to pay anything for "Frühe Hilfen". Family supporters support you free of charge.

So-called family supporters work with "Frühe Hilfen". Almost all of them are women. Most are in the health or social care professions. People working in healthcare professions are, for example, midwives, nurses or psychologists. Social care professions include, for example, social workers and social educators. Other family supporters have educational training: these include, for example, kindergarten teachers and special education teachers. The teams have a diverse range of professions. In this way, family supporters can provide the family with optimal support.

No. The "Frühe Hilfen" family supporter will only help if you if you need it. You can therefore decide for yourself whether you would like to take advantage of the service or not. Unlike child and youth welfare services, family supporters do not work on behalf of the authorities. 

• The service is voluntary
• You do not have to pay anything for it
• You can end the family support programme at any time
• It is best to discuss this calmly with the family supporter

"Frühe Hilfen" is mainly for those who have a harder time during this phase of life. The reasons for this can be very different, such as: 

• Perhaps your are not coping well with a new situation
• Perhaps you are afraid of what the future holds
• Perhaps you are not feeling well as a parent
• Perhaps the child is not well
• Perhaps you do not have support from your family or friends
• Perhaps you don't have enough money
• You may also have other reasons for concern
• Whatever the case may be, it is particularly important to seek support at this stage of life

Yes, "Frühe Hilfen" is available in all districts of Austria.

Parents can contact "Frühe Hilfen" themselves. You can find the appropriate regional Early Intervention network and contact details on this website. Please use the contact form or the list. However, you can also contact family supporters services. You can also contact people in the healthcare profession who are familiar with such support services; it is best to ask a midwife, your general practitioner or a paediatrician. These individuals can take care of the referral.

In an initial telephone call, you will clarify whether "Frühe Hilfen" is really the right programme for you. If this is the case, make an appointment for a first meeting.

You can take advantage of the programme for as long as you need support. The prerequisite is that the youngest child must not be older than 3 years old. Together with the family supporter, you decide how long you want to use the programme.

Sometimes parents are not feeling well and experience stress or worry. This means they may not be able to look after their children as well as they could. This is normal in such situations. That is when they need support. 

If not, this stressful situation can have a negative impact on the parents and the child. This can lead to crying or sleeping disorders. However, these can also have other causes. You should therefore always clarify the matter. 

A stressful situation can therefore have a negative impact on the child's development. But you don't always notice it straight away. In such situations, parents may not have enough time to look after their own health and that of their child. But perhaps they also have questions and do not know who to turn to. 

For all these reasons, it is good and very responsible for parents to accept support. "Frühe Hilfen" will help you.