Cologne Kita Closed in the Holidays? The Jugendamt's Duty to Provide Emergency Care and How to Use It

In North Rhine-Westphalia a Kita may close for no more than 27 days a year (the target is 20), and training and team days count. If you cannot care for your child during a holiday closure, Section 22a paragraph 3 SGB VIII obliges the public youth welfare office (in Cologne the Amt für Kinder, Jugend und Familie) to secure alternative care, and Section 27 paragraph 5 KiBiz obliges the Kita to point you to that duty and support you. The law names no specific place, hours or form, so you tell the Kita in writing which days you need, and go to the Jugendamt if no offer comes. For sudden staff shortages or strikes there is no comparable general right to emergency care, and children with a childminder use the Kontaktstelle Kindertagespflege Köln instead.

Two Different Situations, Two Different Rules

When a Kita is closed, parents often use one word, Notbetreuung. German law and NRW’s guidance draw a line between two cases, and the line decides who you call.

Planned holiday closure versus sudden closure
	Planned closure in the holidays	Sudden closure or reduced hours (illness, staff shortage, strike)
Who is responsible	The Jugendamt must secure alternative care if you cannot care for your child	The provider decides what emergency care looks like
Legal basis	Section 22a paragraph 3 SGB VIII and Section 27 paragraph 5 KiBiz	No general right to an emergency place; guidance of the state and the Landesjugendamt
What to do	Report your need in writing, early	Ask the head of the Kita and the provider at once

How Often a Cologne Kita May Close

The limit comes from the state’s Kinderbildungsgesetz (KiBiz). Section 27 paragraph 3 says that Kitas must ensure regular care all year, and that the number of closure days, not counting weekends and public holidays, should not exceed 20 and must not exceed 27. The state’s Kita portal adds two points that matter to parents: closure days are understood from the parents’ point of view, so team days, training days and concept days count, and the Kita sets its own days within the limit.

A few examples of how this works out in practice: three weeks in summer are 15 days, the days between Christmas and New Year add several more, and a day or two around Carnival or a bridge day can bring a Kita to its limit. The law does not publish a Cologne-wide calendar, so the dates for your Kita are in the information it gives you, and the parent council has a voice. Under Section 10 paragraph 4 KiBiz, the Elternbeirat must be informed in good time and heard before decisions on opening hours.

Guidance passed on by the LVR Landesjugendamt Rheinland adds how emergency days are counted: a sudden closure the provider is not responsible for, such as force majeure, and strike days do not count as closure days. Whether planned emergency-group days count depends on the case, and the parents’ point of view is decisive.

The Legal Duty in Plain Terms

Two sentences carry the whole right.

Federal law, Section 22a paragraph 3 SGB VIII: if facilities close during the holidays, the public youth welfare office has to secure alternative care for children whom the guardians cannot care for.
State law, Section 27 paragraph 5 KiBiz: Kitas must point parents of children who cannot otherwise be cared for and supported during the holiday closure to that duty of the Jugendamt, and support them as far as possible.

What follows from the text, and what does not:

The duty is the Jugendamt’s. It is not the job of your Kita to run holiday care for everyone.
It applies to children whom you cannot care for yourself. Expect to be asked why you cannot arrange care, for example because of work, so be ready to say it briefly and keep a short note from your employer at hand.
The law names no particular form, place or hours, so the Jugendamt decides how to provide the alternative. Nothing in the text promises the same room, the same staff or the same hours as usual.
The wording refers to closures in the holidays (Ferienzeiten). It does not speak of single team days or a sudden closure, so ask rather than assume.

The city pages linked here do not publish a standard holiday-care procedure for Cologne’s Kitas, and the Kita legally has to point you to the Jugendamt’s duty, while what it offers beyond that is up to the provider. So the practical answer for your Kita comes from your Kita, which is why the first step is to ask.

Step by Step for a Planned Closure

Note the closure dates the day you get them. Most Kitas hand out their year plan early, and the elected parent council has been consulted.
Decide which days you cannot cover. Consider your leave, your partner’s leave and relatives. If you still cannot cover them, you have a need in the sense of Section 22a.
Tell the Kita in writing. Name the child, the days and the hours you need, and the reason (for example, no leave available). Ask what the Kita’s process is and ask for a confirmation of receipt. The Kita must point you to the Jugendamt’s duty anyway.
Ask whether the Kita cooperates with another Kita or a holiday group. If yes, ask who registers the child and what the child has to bring.
If you hear nothing, write to the Jugendamt. The Amt für Kinder, Jugend und Familie is based at Kalk Karree, Ottmar-Pohl-Platz 1, 51103 Köln, phone 0221 221-0, and lists a secure contact form and a complaint form. Personal visits there are by appointment only.
Keep a paper trail. Save your message, the date you sent it and any reply.
Check what the offer means before you accept. Address, hours, travel time, lunch, whether your child’s needs can be met there.

When the Kita Closes Suddenly

For illness, staff shortage or a strike, the picture is less comfortable. Familienportal.NRW says that the provider is responsible for deciding what emergency care looks like, and that a partial closure or emergency care beyond the permitted closure days is used only as a last resort. The Landesjugendamt guidance says that emergency places should take the child’s need and the parents’ care need into account and that giving them out only by order of arrival would not be appropriate.

In practice:

Ask the head of the Kita at once whether there is an emergency group, who gets places and what they need as evidence.
Do not assume a right to a place. The sources linked here describe the provider’s responsibility and set no individual claim.
Plan your own fallback: employer flexibility, home office, leave. Familienportal.NRW lists these options, and also notes that under Section 616 BGB a short paid absence can be possible in some cases, unless a contract excludes it. Check your contract.
Our page on Cologne’s Kita legal right deals with the separate case of having no place at all.

If Your Child Is With a Childminder

Childminders have their own system. The Kontaktstelle Kindertagespflege Köln (Venloer Str. 53, phone 0221 913927-0), which works for the city, says that:

replacement care is available in several models, among them teams of childminders, fixed substitutes and substitute bases in Nippes, Ehrenfeld, Sülz, Mülheim and Kalk, which care for up to nine children from 8:00 to 15:00;
replacement care is not yet available everywhere, so ask your childminder what is in your contract;
replacement care costs parents nothing extra;
if your childminder has no replacement, you can ask the Kontaktstelle to look for one, ideally as early as possible, since at least one day of lead time is needed: requests by 14:00 (Friday 12:00) can usually be arranged for the next day, and same-day care is not possible.

Familienportal.NRW says that when a childminder is absent, the Jugendamt is responsible and has to make sure an alternative is found in time.

Money, Work and School-Age Children

Fees. Familienportal.NRW explains that parent contributions are a special kind of contribution, so the obligation to pay can continue even if care is limited, and that meal money follows your contract. Our page on Kita fees in Cologne explains the scale.
Employer. Talk to your employer early, before a closure. Familienportal.NRW suggests flexible hours, home office, time accounts and, as a last resort, leave or unpaid time off.
Primary school children. For children who start grade 1 in 2026/27 or later, Section 24 paragraph 4 SGB VIII gives an all-day entitlement through grade 4. It allows state law to provide a closure period of up to four weeks a year in the school holidays. How that works in Cologne is the subject of our page on the OGS summer closure gap.

What Is Changing With the KiBiz Reform

The Landtag adopted a reform of the KiBiz on 16 July 2026. According to the state’s press release it takes effect at the start of the Kita year 2027/28, on 1 August 2027, and gives providers more freedom to set core and edge hours. In the consolidated text valid from that date on recht.nrw.de, the closure-day sentence of Section 27 paragraph 3 and the notice duty of paragraph 5 appear unchanged. Until then the current text applies, and the final wording is worth checking when the new version takes effect.

If Nothing Works

Ask for a written answer that says which care is offered and on what basis.
Contact the parent council of your Kita (Elternbeirat) so other families with the same need can ask together.
Use the Jugendamt’s complaint form, listed on the city’s page, if your written need is not answered.
Consider legal advice if the Jugendamt refuses without giving a reason. Our sources describe the duty but do not describe how a court would handle a single case.

Compliance Note

This page explains the general legal framework for holiday and emergency care when a Kita closes in NRW and the offices described by the city of Cologne, current as of October 2026. It is not legal advice. Kitas, providers and the Jugendamt handle individual cases differently, and rules change. Confirm your situation with your Kita, the Amt für Kinder, Jugend und Familie, or an independent counselling service.

FAQ & Common Pitfalls

How many days may a Kita in Cologne close each year?

Under Section 27 paragraph 3 KiBiz, a Kita in NRW should close no more than 20 days a year (excluding weekends and public holidays) and must not exceed 27. Closure time up to half of the daily opening hours counts as half a day. The state's Kita portal explains that closure days are counted from the parents' point of view, so team days, training days and concept days count too. The Kita sets its own days within these limits.

Do I have a legal right to holiday care if my Kita closes?

There is a legal duty, but it sits with the public youth welfare office. Section 22a paragraph 3 SGB VIII says that where facilities close in the holidays, the Träger der öffentlichen Jugendhilfe must secure alternative care for the children whom the guardians cannot care for. In Cologne that is the Jugendamt, the Amt für Kinder, Jugend und Familie. The law does not say that the alternative must be your own Kita, the same group or the same hours.

What does the Kita itself have to do?

Section 27 paragraph 5 KiBiz obliges every Kita to point parents of children who cannot be cared for in other ways during holiday closures to the Jugendamt's duty and to support them as far as possible. In practice that means the Kita should tell you how to report your need. Ask the head of the Kita how they collect it, and whether they cooperate with another Kita during closures.

Does holiday care cost extra?

The sources linked here do not set one national or Cologne-wide price for it. Familienportal.NRW says that parent contributions in NRW are set by each local youth welfare office and can continue even when care is limited, and that meal payments follow your care contract. Ask the Kita or the Jugendamt in writing what applies to the alternative offered before you accept it.

What if the Kita is closed at short notice because of staff shortages or a strike?

That is a different case. Familienportal.NRW says the provider decides what emergency care looks like and that it is a last resort. Guidance passed on by the Landesjugendamt Rheinland says emergency places should take both the child's need and the parents' care need into account and should not be given only by order of arrival. The guidance also says unplanned emergency closures that the provider is not responsible for, and strike days, do not count as closure days under Section 27 KiBiz. There is no general legal right to an emergency place in these cases.

My child is with a Tagesmutter in Cologne, who helps when she is ill or on holiday?

The Kontaktstelle Kindertagespflege Köln, which works on behalf of the city, runs replacement models: teams of childminders, fixed substitutes, and substitute bases in some districts. It says replacement care does not cost parents extra, that it is not yet available everywhere, and that it needs at least one day of lead time. Requests received by 14:00 (Friday by 12:00) can usually be arranged for the next day, and same-day replacement is not possible. Ask your childminder first whether she has a replacement arrangement in your contract.

Does anything change with the KiBiz reform?

NRW's Landtag adopted a KiBiz reform on 16 July 2026, and the state says it takes effect on 1 August 2027. In the consolidated text for that version on recht.nrw.de, the closure-day sentence (20 target, 27 maximum) and the sentence obliging Kitas to point parents to the Jugendamt's duty in Section 27 appear unchanged. The federal duty in Section 22a SGB VIII is not affected. Check the final wording when the new version takes effect.

What about a primary school child whose OGS is closed?

That runs under different rules. Section 24 paragraph 4 SGB VIII gives children who start grade 1 in 2026/27 or later an all-day entitlement through grade 4, and allows state law to provide a closure period of up to four weeks a year during school holidays. Our page on the OGS summer closure gap in Cologne covers that case.