English Information

The service centres of the ZBFS are open for you. If you have no or only insufficient knowledge of German, we would like to ask you to bring an accompanying person with appropriate language skills as far as possible in order to avoid comprehension difficulties during your visit to the service center. This facilitates and accelerates the processing of your request...

How to reach your ZBFS

Booking an appointment (for a phone consultation or an on-site consultation in person):

  Using our Online Appointment Reservation Tool you can conveniently

  • book an appointment on site at one of our service centres or
  • book a telephone consultation appointment.

We provide advice in the areas of family benefits (parental allowance, family allowance, crèche allowance) and severe disability (assessment procedure, ID cards).

In addition:

Service telephone - family benefits

For family benefits (parental allowance, Bavarian family allowance and Bavarian crèche allowance), the ZBFS has set up its own service telephone, which you can also use without an appointment. You can reach us Monday through Thursday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. and Fridays between 8 a.m. and noon at 0931 32090929.

Contact by e-mail and via our contact form

You can find the e-mail addresses of the contact persons responsible for you at the top of this page by clicking on your regional office in the Bavaria map. You can also use our

Contact Form

to contact us.

Dear Bavarian residents,

the Bavarian Centre for Families and Social Affairs (ZBFS) is a central state authority with responsibility for a range of social benefits and services in Bavaria. Various family benefits paid to parents fall under our remit, as does formal recognition of the disability status of severely disabled persons.

ZBFS is directly subordinate to the Bavarian Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Families and Integration. Headquartered in Bayreuth, we also have offices throughout Bavaria in Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg, Regensburg, Würzburg and Landshut.

The hallmark of our mission statement is its commitment to fair and respectful dealings with members of the public: we can advise you competently and provide you with information on your possible entitlement to benefits.

We have just extended the services we provide.
On this page, we now also offer an overview of the spectrum of our work through the medium of English. You will find concise summaries of the different services we provide here. All further information and advice can then be found by following the links given for specific topics.

We ask you to understand that we are bound by procedural rules and can only provide more detailed information, engage in letter or e-mail correspondence and offer advice in person through the medium of the German language. We nevertheless hope that we have been able to assist you to some extent by making a certain amount of information available here.

Your Bavarian Centre for Families and Social Affairs (ZBFS)

Who we are

The Bavarian Centre for Families and Social Affairs - always near at hand!

The Bavarian Centre for Families and Social Affairs (ZBFS) is the central State authority within the scope of the Bavarian Ministry of Social Affairs.

Its main office is located in Bayreuth.

You are bound to find one of our seven regional offices in your local area, with one in each Bavarian governmental district:

in Augsburg, Bayreuth and Selb, Landshut, München, Nürnberg, Regensburg and Würzburg.

Children, Young People, Families, Senior Citizens -
We’re here for you!

We are currently in contact with every seventh person in Bavaria.

We’re ready to help people in any region of Bavaria, whether they be young or elderly, an employee or an employer.

Further Information

Families and Children

Parental Allowance
(Elterngeld)

is granted to parents who care for their child themselves during the first few months of his/her life and compensates to a certain extent for the loss of income. If the parent was not in receipt of income prior to the birth of the child, he/she shall receive the minimum payment.

Tip: Make your application the convenient way; online at:
www.elterngeld.bayern.de

Bavarian Family Allowance
(Bayerisches Familiengeld)

The Free State of Bavaria grants parents EUR 250 per month for each child in the second and third year of life, i.e. from the 13th to 36th month of life, from the third child onwards even EUR 300 per month. Parents receive the family allowance for children who are born as of October 1, 2015. 

This is a benefit for all families without regard to income or employment. Parents in Bavaria may receive the family allowance even though the child attends a daycare center or is looked after within the family.

The Bavarian Childcare Allowance
(Bayerisches Krippengeld)

relieves parents of the burden of contributions for attending a facility or daycare center sponsored according to the Bavarian Child Education and Care Act (BayKiBiG). As of January 1, 2020, they will receive a subsidy of EUR 100 per month per child for their one to two years old children - depending on the actual costs. The childcare allowance is paid only to parents whose income does not exceed a certain income limit. In addition to parents, adoptive foster parents and foster parents can also benefit from the childcare allowance.

Further information and application online at:
www.krippengeld.bayern.de

Bavarian State Youth Welfare Office
(Bayerisches Landesjugendamt)

The Bavarian State Youth Welfare Office (BLJA) is the administrative body responsible for regional child and youth welfare services and for their professional development.

The BLJA advises and assists the regional and local Bavarian Youth Welfare Offices. It focuses on the development of material and concepts for child and youth welfare services, the planning of assistance for children and young people, the production of reports on child and youth welfare services and the ongoing training of specialised staff. In addition to this, the BLJA assists in the protection of minors in the media and with the work of the Central Adoption Agency.
www.blja.bayern.de

Further Information

Support for Disabled People in Working and Professional Activities

The Integration Office of the ZBFS is best placed to provide advice on anything related to disability and employment.

Using funds made available by the compensation levy, we promote the vocational integration of people with disabilities into the general labour market.

There are various special programmes available that enhance the inclusion of people with disabilities in working and professional activities.

Important: The Integration Office is not an employment agency for citizens in search of work. Please contact the local "Agentur für Arbeit" for that purpose.

Support for Every Job

Our technical advisers help businesses to make workplace adaptations to facilitate employees with disabilities.

We provide financial support in cases of severe disability, especially for employers.

The Integration Office is also responsible for protecting employees with severe disabilities from dismissal.

For more information, visit our website

More Information

People with disabilities

Recognition of a Severe Disability

One out of eleven Bavarian citizens is severely disabled. This translates to more than 1.1 million people.
Having received an application, we determine the impairment to health, the degree of disability (abbreviated to GdB) and the other symptoms of the applicant. If the degree of disability amounts to 50 or more, this constitutes a severe disability and the applicant shall receive a disabled person's card.

Tip: Make your application the convenient way: online.

Further Information

Social Compensation

Victims of Violence

The law of social compensation regulates the support of persons with health-related impairments, the financial costs of which are covered by the State. The ZBFS is also responsible, under particular circumstances, for compensating victims of the Second World War or of acts of violence committed on German territory.

Blind Person's Allowance
(Blindengeld)

The ZBFS is also responsible for a benefit unique to Bavaria: the blind persons' allowance.

Further Information

Foundations

Quick Assistance

Pregnant women, large families and single mothers and fathers can often find themselves in distress.

In such cases, focused assistance is required. The „State Foundation Assistance for Mother and Child“ (Landesstiftung Hilfe für Mutter und Kind) can provide financial assistance, should the assistance provided by law prove insufficient.
Besides the various foundations for families and children, such as "Alliance for Children", the ZBFS also comprises several other foundations, e.g. those for People with Disabilities, as well as the Bavarian Foundation "Hospice".

European Social Fund (ESF)

With the help of the European Social Fund, we promote the competitiveness of the region, in particular through vocational qualifications. Grants are awarded for projects, but also for particular training opportunities in businesses and companies.

European Social Fund (ESF)

State Funding

The ZBFS supports various projects and institutions that assist the elderly and people with disabilities, focussing on civic involvement and assistance for families using Funds from the Free State of Bavaria.

Further Information

Forensic commitment

is the commitment of offenders to a mental hospital or a custodial addiction treatment facility. ZBFS has the technical supervisory oversight over the institutions with responsibility for funding and organising the forensic commitment in Bavaria. The main focus of this supervisory activity is on quality assurance in the institutions where offenders who have been commited involuntarily are held.
For more information, see: Maßregelvollzug in Bayern
The head office of the Authority for Forensic Commitment within the ZBFS is in Nördlingen.

Further Information