The supra-local youth welfare organisation must bear the costs of placing a child in a foster family if the parents lived in different places and in different districts before being admitted to the facility. This has now been decided by the Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG) (Ref.: 5 C 1.25 of 13.05.2026).

The specific case concerned a child who was placed with a foster family; the mother and father had their habitual residence in different districts prior to the placement. As the responsibility of the youth welfare organisation pursuant to Section 89e (2) SGB VIII is based on the habitual residence of the parents, neither of the two local organisations was liable to reimburse the costs in this case. This is because local responsibility based on the parents' habitual residence presupposes that both parents had their habitual residence in the area of the same youth welfare organisation before being admitted to a care facility. If this is not the case, the supra-local provider is obliged to reimburse the costs. This is because, according to the BVerwG, the law does not provide for a reimbursement obligation of two local organisations in such cases.