Jugendamt (German: Youth office) is a German and Austrian local agency set up to promote the welfare of children. Each district (Kreis) or district-free city (kreisfreie Stadt) has its own Jugendamt. Its structure is flat, with no centralised (state or federal) coordinating office. In Germany the youth offices were created during Weimar Republic by the Reichsgesetz für Jugendwohlfahrt of 1922, in force since 1924. Since the local organizations function independently there is no federal administrative supervision. From Wikipedia
