“It has been possible to significantly reduce juvenile delinquency: within the last few years, the crimes committed by juveniles have fallen by more than half, and the number of juvenile suspects has decreased considerably.
A great success, which is mainly due to the comprehensive care approach by the House of Youth Law. "
Luise Glaser-Lotz
Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Main-Kinzig district.
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These words of praise come from the police headquarters in Southeast Hesse and refer to the work of the “House of Youth Law” in Offenbach. The benefits of such an institution were not only evident there, there is also a corresponding commitment in Wiesbaden, Frankfurt and other German cities. On the one hand, the aim is to quickly confront young offenders, including so-called intensive offenders, with their offenses through a court hearing and to punish them appropriately. Other important pillars are prevention, offers of help and advice in order to prevent young people from getting on the downward spiral of a criminal career in the first place.
This has long been desired for Hanau and the Main-Kinzig district.
Actually, after the opening of the House for Youth Law in Offenbach, one for Hanau and the district should follow a little later.
But despite concrete plans, the provision of real estate by the Hanau construction company and advanced renovation work, the people of Hanau are still waiting for the opening day.
That was planned for the end of 2019.
Work on the construction site has been on hold for around ten months
After several postponements of the planned opening date, things got even worse: work on the construction site in Hanau's old town has been on hold for around ten months. The Hanau construction company is making an entire row of houses available for the major project. 24 former apartments are being converted on Schlossplatz and along Graf-Philipp-Ludwig-Strasse and Steinstrasse. An area of 2300 square meters is being prepared for the offices of the participating institutions. The construction company, as a subsidiary of the city of Hanau, also takes on the construction work.
The total investment was estimated at around nine million euros when the building permit was handed over in September 2018. In addition to the city and the district, the first tenant is the state of Hesse, the landlord is the construction company, which negotiates the contract with the Landesbetrieb Bau und Immobilien Hessen (LBIH). The Hessian Ministry of Finance is the superordinate authority and technical supervision of the LBIH. As we learned, there were inconsistencies, especially in connection with the “functional description of services”, which is the basis for the structural design.
The paper serves as the basis for the lease agreement between the construction company and the State of Hesse, which has not yet been signed. Frequent changes in the draft contract and long waiting times for decisions on construction are said to have delayed the completion of the lease until the construction company pulled the rip cord last November and, according to managing director Jens Gottwald, stopped work.
When asked why, it wasn't because of the construction work.
The conversion is already well advanced.
The roof and windows have been renovated, the screed has been laid, and most of the heating systems have been installed.
But as long as the lease has not been signed, construction will not continue.
Gottwald hopes that the lease will be signed and sealed by the end of October.
At this point in time, the standstill will have lasted for a full year.
Police union is skeptical
The signing of the contract is planned for this year, the LBIH informs on request. Otherwise you are rather buttoned up there. “Structural and technical aspects of such properties generally require intensive planning. This is also the case with the House of Youth Law in Hanau. At the moment there is still intensive coordination with the landlord, among other things on the security concept of the building. A clarification of the still open points is becoming apparent ”, reads the short written statement.
A little while ago, a small request from the FDP to the state parliament on the state of the House of Youth Law in Hanau was largely in vain. The group pointed out that when the project was presented in September 2018, it had been announced that the project would be implemented in record time. Instead, there is a "hanging game". Justice Minister Eva Kühne-Hörmann (CDU) took on the answer, as the Ministry of Justice is also involved. The FDP criticized the FDP at the time, however, that there was no information about possible building specifications in the state or a binding planned opening.
Skepticism about a possible overload of the Hanau police comes from the police union in the Main-Kinzig district. District group spokesman Markus Hüschenbett thinks the facility is basically sensible. However, a house of youth rights will be very labor-intensive for the police. According to the plans, 26 police officers will once be on duty there. For this purpose, jobs are to be relocated. The public prosecutor is expected to send two employees. In addition, municipal youth welfare workers from the city and district should work there. There are also representatives of social institutions such as drug and addiction counseling or debt counseling.