[Child protection in Germany in light of the "MPK"-decisions--what's become of that?].

Child protection has become a political and social hot topic. Due to dramatic cases of child neglect and maltreatment federal and state governments as well as municipalities with their respective responsibilities are in public focus. The knowledge, that families and children, who must live under difficult conditions, need special attention, contact and support is the common aim of many activities. Under the impression of publicly discussed horrific violence against children and their death, the main federal and state decision-makers--the chancellor and the prime ministers of the states--have dealt with the protection of children. To be effective against neglect and maltreatment, in their conferences on 19th December 2007 and 12th June 2008, they have decided a package of concrete measures for an active child protection. This paper gives an overview of these agreed measures and reports on the status of implementation.