Integration support workers in daycare and after-school care in NRW
Building bridges
Easing the load on teams
Strengthening participation
Integration support workers are women with a migration history of their own who, after completing a qualification programme, work in daycare centres and after-school care: as a bridge between facilities and multilingual families.
13
active locations
579
qualified women
NRW
now after-school care too
10 rounds
of training programmes successfully delivered since 2017
A proven model
A proven model. Now for all of NRW.
After a pilot phase, an evaluation and ten successful training rounds, the project is entering its statewide expansion phase, with after-school care as a new field.
13
active locations across NRW where integration support workers are trained and deployed.
579
qualified women have completed the training successfully, many of them moving straight into employment.
10
training rounds since 2017: a proven curriculum, an evaluated concept, documented materials.
2027
Statewide expansion across NRW: new locations in every administrative district and a pilot in after-school care.
The role
What an integration support worker does.
Integration support workers are not pedagogical specialists, and they are not meant to be. They are bridge-builders: women who bring their own migration history, multilingualism and life experience into the everyday work of daycare centres and after-school care.
They take on the tasks that the daily bustle of a facility leaves no time for. That frees educators and pedagogical staff to concentrate on their core work.
Language mediation & communication with parents
Translating, explaining, building trust: in the doorway just as much as at a parents‘ evening.
Support for children
Low-threshold support in everyday life, on arrival and during transitions.
A bridge to families
Role models for families with a similar background, guides into the education system.
Relief for the teams
Practical, everyday support during a phase of structural staff shortages.
A new field of work
After-school care: the next bridge into the education system.
After-school care at primary schools is the next logical step. At the interface of school, all-day care and family, integration support workers add value in their own right, with a role profile of their own and their own qualification modules.
Family communication & language mediation
Mediating between school, after-school care and multilingual homes.
Shaping transitions
Accompanying children between lessons, after-school hours and the way home, especially children who have newly arrived.
Low-threshold support
A go-to person in everyday life, help with practical routines.
Relief for all-day structures
More time for pedagogical core work thanks to an additional, multilingual person of trust.
Locations across NRW
Already across the state. And still growing.
13 locations, 9 training providers, one curriculum. From East Westphalia-Lippe to the Ruhr region, from the Lower Rhine to the Siegerland.
Standortname
Stand der Standortangaben: September 2026
Auf schmalen Bildschirmen liegen die Kartenpunkte zu dicht beieinander, um sie sicher zu treffen. Die Karte zeigt hier nur die Verteilung. Standortdetails öffnen Sie über die Liste darunter.
Alle Schulungsstandorte
13 StandorteA glimpse into practice
Integration at the daycare centre: living diversity successfully.
A film about the work of integration support workers on the ground, produced by AWO Ostwestfalen-Lippe, where the project began in 2017.
Video: AWO Ostwestfalen-Lippe, published on YouTube. The embed runs via youtube-nocookie.com and only starts after your click. What is transferred to Google is described in our privacy policy.
If the embed does not load: watch the video directly on YouTube. Data is transferred to Google in that case as well.
Four target groups, one project
How to get involved.
The project works where programme providers, facility providers, municipalities and Jobcenters pull together. Choose your entry point:
Proven over 10 training rounds
Programme providers
The complete curriculum, training materials and our experience from ten cohorts, AVGS-eligible and, in time, FBW-eligible.
Practical placement without wage costs
Daycare & after-school care providers
Relief in everyday work, stronger bridges to multilingual families. Practical placement, role profiles and employment prospects included.
AVGS-eligible
Jobcenters & the Federal Employment Agency
Labour-market-oriented activation of women with a migration history, with documented transitions into employment.
Regional anchoring
Municipalities & youth welfare offices
Strategic anchoring, professional involvement, building up locations. We support the development of durable structures on the ground.
How a training round works
From selection to deployment.
A proven curriculum, evaluated and documented. Theory phases and practical phases alternate.
1. Outreach & selection
Approaching suitable participants in cooperation with Jobcenters and the Federal Employment Agency.
2. Theory phase
Training in pedagogy, communication, multilingualism, role and task profile, now with an AI module.
3. Practical placement
Introductory meetings, fixed contact persons, clear agreements on roles in the daycare centre or in after-school care.
4. Transition into employment
Placement into a job, follow-up qualification programmes, a long-term career perspective.
AI as a supporting element
Support where communication and participation are strengthened.
Eight tools for the everyday work of integration support workers, providers and municipalities: developed at the transfer agency, free of charge, straight in the browser, without signing up. They complement personal relationship work, they do not replace it.
01 · Multilingualism
Communicating in the families’ languages
Letters to parents and notices in plain language and in the families’ languages, and the key applications around daycare and after-school care explained in German and Arabic. Experience at the locations showed that applications are often not understood, and that is how “Anträge verstehen” (understanding applications) came about.
✉️
AI
For support workers and teams
Elternbrief-Helfer (help with letters to parents)
A notice or a letter to parents becomes a version in plain language and in the languages the families speak.
Open →
📄
For families and support workers
Anträge verstehen (understanding applications)
The key applications around daycare and after-school care in North Rhine-Westphalia, explained in plain German and in Arabic. More languages to follow.
Open →
02 · Practising everyday situations
Practise before it matters
Conversations with parents and the language of daycare and after-school care can be practised at your own pace: simulating everyday situations and support with learning the language, the building blocks of the new curriculum module “AI in support and communication practice”.
🗣️
AI
For participants and support workers
Kita-Deutsch-Trainer (German for daycare work)
Practise the language that daycare and after-school care really call for: at drop-off and pick-up, in team meetings, with technical terms.
Open →
💬
AI
For support workers and mentors
Elterngespräch-Simulator (parent conversation simulator)
Practise difficult conversations before they happen for real. You reply, the tool plays the parent and gives you feedback afterwards.
Open →
03 · Diversity work
Ideas for diversity work on the ground
Reviewed practical ideas for more belonging in daycare and after-school care, and a self-check that helps teams see where they stand and find the next step.
💡
For teams in daycare and after-school care
Praxisideen-Finder (finder for practical ideas)
116 reviewed practical ideas for more diversity and belonging in daycare and after-school care, sorted by situation and effort.
Open →
🧭
For teams in daycare and after-school care
Vielfalt-Kompass (diversity compass)
A self-check for teams: six dimensions, honest questions and a result the team can work on together.
Open →
04 · New locations
Paving the way to a location of your own
Municipalities, providers and facilities check what is already in place locally and what is still missing, and end up with a ready-made job description. This makes it easier to transfer the project to new locations.
📍
For municipalities and providers
Standort-Check (location check)
Ten questions to check whether your region is ready for a location: what already fits, what is still missing and who takes the next step.
Open →
🧩
For facilities
Einstellungs-Lotse (recruitment guide)
Which tasks can an integration support worker take on, how can the post be funded, what has to be settled beforehand? At the end you get a job description.
Open →
Since 2017
The history of the project
From the first training round in Bielefeld in 2017, through ten training rounds, to a statewide model: the project has grown step by step. 579 qualified women and 13 locations on, after-school care opens the next chapter.
Get involved now
Are you a programme provider and want to deliver the qualification programme?
We share the full curriculum, training documents, materials and our experience from ten cohorts. The transfer agency supports you as you build up: from the first outreach right through to the employment phase.