Information for professionals

Involved professionals want to be well-informed and act quickly if there is reason to fear that a child will be abducted to another country by a parent in a family crisis or that the child is being or has been held there against the will of the other parent. ZAnK is here to provide support.

Challenges in counselling practice

Given the steady advance of globalisation, the normality of international migration and binational family constellations, an increasing number of cases with a cross-border element is becoming part of everyday life in the help and support system for families. Many professional groups come into contact with them.

Social workers and other professionals are normally asked for advice by a parent or, less frequently, by the children concerned and by colleagues.

Yet family conflict cases with relevance to another country are seldom routine. There are different national family law and social systems and international regulations. They are highly emotional and complex. On top of this, there is uncertainty when communicating with those involved or when deciding what steps to recommend next. 

Dealing with parents and providing advice in the context of child abduction poses specific professional challenges in terms of time, language, legislation and culture.

Our services for professionals

In its capacity as a nationwide specialist agency, ZAnK supplements local contact structures for the families concerned with its own counselling service for private individuals. We will also refer people in need of advice to the relevant services available in their local area. In addition to this, we provide advice for professionals dealing with international family conflicts.

Our professional advice service is open to everyone and is particularly well used by staff members of:

  •  youth welfare offices,
  • advice centres,
  • police/judicial authorities,
  • family courts,
  • lawyers,
  • schools
  • and mediation agencies.

ZAnK is available to private individuals and professionals on workdays via telephone consultation, email and chat.

Using our website as a professional

Whether people turn to ZAnK as private individuals or with specific questions, we would like our website to give them initial guidance on the subject of cross-border family conflicts on the one hand and to make further information available on the other hand. People are welcome to use it before as well as after a consultation.

Professionals will find additional details under “Pointers for giving advice” wherever we provide information for parents and other persons involved.

We also recommend that professionals make use of the ZAnK website as a resource if required when they are directly in contact with the persons involved. This applies in particular to our subpages suitable for reading with children or aimed at young people.

Specialist information

Learn more

Links & resources

Here you will find further reading and useful web pages on the subject of international child abduction and conflicts in the family.

Legal foundations briefly explained

Professional practice often involves the legal classification of cross-border family conflicts. We present an overview of the most important international regulations in this field.

About us

What is the driving force in our work as a Central Contact Point? What do our services to you consist of? Get to know us better here.