Netzwerkkarten in den Frühen Hilfen – Pilotierung eines Ablaufs zum (Wieder-)aufbau kommunaler Netzwerke

Municipal networks of early childhood intervention coordinate services to promote healthy child development. The (re)establishment of these networks is unsystematic and network maps are sometimes used. However, it is not yet clear how such network maps should be used. The aim of this project was therefore to pilot and evaluate a process for the use of network maps in the development of early childhood intervention networks.

The process was tested on the basis of five network meetings with early childhood intervention professionals (n = 17; n = 14; n = 21; n = 13; n = 22) in various Düsseldorf neighborhoods in 2022 and 2023. Network maps were to act as a narrative generator here. They were embedded in a process that consisted of various phases, including interactive ones. The experiences were then discussed with the people responsible for the network meetings (n = 3) in a focus group. The transcribed recordings were analyzed using content-structuring qualitative content analysis.

The evaluation by the focus group took place along the various phases of the network meetings, including planning, introductions, filling out the cards, hanging up the cards, break, group discussion, and conclusion. The overall evaluation resulted in an idealized process of an early help network meeting in which the network cards are embedded and in which organizational aspects must be taken into account.

These limited experiences and evaluations of the use of the network maps convey the impression that the network map instrument works as a narrative trigger. The process piloted here can be used to systematically (re)establish municipal early help networks.