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FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

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General information on the LITTLE BIRD council service

What are the benefits from using the LITTLE BIRD parent portal for me?

By using LITTLE BIRD, you can apply for places with the child­care provi­ders of your choice, inclu­ding several at the same time.* It does not matter whether there is any free capa­city at the moment. Having a personal account is a prere­qui­site for applying for a child­care place, hence the need for a one-time regis­tra­tion on and log in to the parent portal.

The places are allo­cated by the provi­ders them­selves. The number of possible appli­ca­tions for a child­care place is deter­mined by the respec­tive council and may be limited. LITTLE BIRD GmbH has no influence at all on the allo­ca­tion of a place and the number of appli­ca­tions allowed.

*At the moment, the LITTLE BIRD system can only be used by parents if the respon­sible youth services office or the provider makes this service available.

How can I use LITTLE BIRD?

LITTLE BIRD can be used at any time in the comfort of your own home or on a computer, smart­phone or tablet.* For the sake of fair­ness and acces­si­bi­lity, it is still possible to apply for a child­care place in person at the respec­tive care provider. Many coun­cils also offer an addi­tional central contact point at their admi­nis­tra­tive offices where you can get advice.

*At the moment, the LITTLE BIRD system can only be used by parents if the respon­sible youth services office or the provider makes this service available.

Why do I have to use LITTLE BIRD?

This parent portal is a modern, digital offe­ring from your council. You can easily get an over­view of the child­care offe­rings in your area from home, filter them accor­ding to criteria that are important to you and, if you wish, submit your appli­ca­tion for a child­care place directly online.*
For the sake of fair­ness and acces­si­bi­lity, however, it remains possible to apply for a child­care place in person at the faci­li­ties. Many coun­cils offer an addi­tional central contact point at their admi­nis­tra­tive offices where you can get advice.

*At the moment, the LITTLE BIRD system can only be used by parents if the respon­sible youth services office or the provider makes this service available.

No answers to your questions?

Register, Log In, My Account

Why do I have to create a personal account?

It is only neces­sary to register and log in if you want to apply for child­care. The follo­wing func­tions are also available to you from your personal account: Save your search, take note of faci­li­ties that fit your needs, use the data for further child­care appli­ca­tions (only with your explicit consent), change selected data after­wards* and real-time status query on each indi­vi­dual child­care application.

If you have regis­tered directly on-site or by tele­phone at the faci­li­ties or at the spon­so­ring or council administration:
You can also import your data after­wards using a personal account (Prerequisite: For on-site regis­tra­tion, it is neces­sary to provide the same email address as for the first contract partner, which will also be used for the portal account.)

Important to know:
Data can only be changed or imported if your council has acti­vated this function.

I did not receive an activation email. What can I do?

You can ask for the acti­va­tion email be resent to you. Use the func­tion on your parent portal login page. Either re-enter your regis­tered email address here or have the acti­va­tion email sent to another email address – for this option, you will also need the pass­word you used.

If you still don’t find an acti­va­tion email in your inbox (or spam/junk mail folder), please contact our support team with your name, regis­tered email address, and the desired council. You can reach support via our contact form.

ATTENTION: Depending on the provider, it may take up to 10 minutes for the emails to arrive. Please also check your spam/junk mail folder!

I forgot my password. What should I do?

Please use the “Forgot my pass­word” func­tionon the parent portal login page to request a new pass­word. Enter your user­name or regis­tered email address. For secu­rity, you will then receive a message stating you must confirm that you need a new pass­word. As soon as you have confirmed this, you will receive a tempo­rary pass­word which you can use to log in.

ATTENTION: Depending on the provider, it may take up to 10 minutes for the emails to arrive. Please also check your spam/junk mail folder!

I didn't receive an email for a new password. What can I do?

Please also check your spam/junk mail folder! If you still cannot find an email to reset your pass­word, please contact our support team with your name, regis­tered email address and the desired council. You can reach support via our contact form.

ATTENTION: Depending on the provider, it may take up to 10 minutes for the emails to arrive. Please also check your spam/junk mail folder!

How can I delete my account?

If you want to delete your account, please first log in to the portal. There you can select the item “Delete profile” under “My Profile”.

ATTENTION: If you delete your account, you will no longer be able to access any previously submitted child­care appli­ca­tions and will no longer be able to view/track the status of these appli­ca­tions. It is not possible to make a link to a new account.

How can I unsubscribe from the newsletter?

If you no longer wish to receive the LITTLE BIRD Newsletter, please first log in to the LITTLE BIRD parent portal. There you can select the item “Change personal data” under “My Profile”. Delete the tick by “Yes, I would like to receive the LITTLE BIRD news­letter” and save the change.

No answers to your questions?

Applications for childcare & data entry

How can I submit an application for childcare?

To apply for child­care, you must create a personal account and use it to log in.

Use the diffe­rent filters to help you search for indi­vi­du­ally suitable child­care provi­ders. Use the mouse to click on the “Create child­care appli­ca­tion” button directly in the search results; this takes you to an online form. You must fill in the fields marked * with the correct data. Then send the child­care appli­ca­tion. The child­care provider receives your data and will be informed that you are inte­rested in a place.

For reasons of fair­ness and acces­si­bi­lity, it is still possible to submit child­care appli­ca­tions perso­nally with the child­care provi­ders on site. Many coun­cils offer an addi­tional central contact point at their admi­nis­tra­tive offices where you can get advice.

Important to know: 
When you have completed ente­ring your data, if you enter a tick mark that your data can be stored in the portal, this data will then be available to you for further child­care appli­ca­tions. If you do not enter this tick mark, the data must be re-entered for each child­care application.

What do I have to consider when completing the online forms in the parent portal?

Make sure you enter all the data correctly. Fill in all the fields marked *.

Even for child­care appli­ca­tions for an unborn child, you must specify a first and last name as a place­holder because the system can only process complete data.

If an entry does not conform to the speci­fied format or a discrepancy is detected, the corre­spon­ding field will be high­lighted in red and an excla­ma­tion mark on the field will provide further infor­ma­tion for re-entering the data.

Why is a telephone number a required field for a childcare application?

If the child­care provider needs any clari­fi­ca­tion about your child­care appli­ca­tion, the provider will be able to reach you by using the posted tele­phone number.

Do I have to specify a second partner?

Yes, if there are other persons who are entitled to custody of the child for whom you have submitted a child­care appli­ca­tion, their names must be provided.

Important to know:
If you want to change data after­wards, you can only do so via the login (personal account) of the first contract partner.
Data can only be changed if your council has acti­vated this feature.

I cannot select my address. What can I do?

Each council usually posts a street direc­tory from which you can select your address. However, this has to be updated at regular inter­vals, for example if new deve­lo­p­ment areas are built.
Please contact the respon­sible contact person of your council or your local youth services office. You will find the contact person after selec­ting your council further down on this page.

What does the "Priority" field mean for the childcare application?

If you apply for child­care places with several child­care provi­ders in parallel, you can specify prio­ri­ties. Entering prio­rity “1” means that this child­care provider is your favourite.

 
Important to know:
1. Each council decides indi­vi­du­ally whether you must or can indi­cate prio­ri­ties and whether these have a direct impact on the allo­ca­tion process.
2. Each council decides indi­vi­du­ally whether prio­ri­ties can be subse­quently changed again.

Why do you have to give a first name, last name and estimated date of birth for a childcare application for unborn children?

The details of a first and last name and the expected date of birth of an unborn child are neces­sary for the system to process the child­care appli­ca­tion. Incomplete infor­ma­tion cannot be submitted or processed. For example, you can simply enter “Unknown” as a first name. After the child is born and named, have the name and actual date of birth entered into the system either by ONE child­care provider where you have applied for a place or through the respon­sible council govern­ment. Or you log into your personal account (only works with the email address of the first contract partner) and adjust the name and date of birth yourself.

Important to know:
1. Please note that each council can decide for itself whether child­care appli­ca­tions are allowed for unborn children or not.
2. You only have to go to ONE place and update the data – or you can change the data yourself in your personal account (first contract partner), not sepa­ra­tely at each facility.
3. You can only change the name and date of birth by yourself on the personal account of the first contract partner, if your council has acti­vated this feature.

Why can I only send in a limited number of childcare applications?

Each council decides for itself whether the number of child­care appli­ca­tions is limited or not. LITTLE BIRD has no influence on this.

If you have reached the maximum number of active child­care appli­ca­tions, it isn’t possible to submit any further appli­ca­tions for the same child. If you are declined or have yourself with­drawn an appli­ca­tion, you can of course create new child­care appli­ca­tions once again.

Do I have to re-enter all the data for each application?

When you have completed ente­ring your data for the first child­care appli­ca­tion, this data will then be available to you for further child­care appli­ca­tions if you enter a corre­spon­ding tick mark that your data can be stored in the portal. If you do not enter this tick mark, the data must be re-entered for each child­care application.

I would like to change childcare provider. How does it work?

If your child is curr­ently provided with a child­care place within your council or if an exis­ting care contract exists, you have to indi­cate that your child­care appli­ca­tion is a change request. Click on “Yes” in the appro­priate place.

If you have not indi­cated clearly that you want to change the provider, the appli­ca­tion cannot be processed. Children provided with a child­care agree­ment are not entitled to another child­care place and ther­e­fore are not allowed to have any active applications.

How can I withdraw/cancel an application already submitted?

You can use the “X” symbol to with­draw your appli­ca­tion. In this case, you must provide further infor­ma­tion about your reasons.

How can I view my data if I have applied for a place on-site?

If your council has acti­vated this service, you can also subse­quently import your data that you provided during the on-site regis­tra­tion. To do this, you must use the email address of first contract partner to register and log in to the parent portal and then autho­rise the data import.

Important to know:
A subse­quent data import only works if you use the email address of first contract partner. If you have not provided any email address for the first contract partner, you must first contact the faci­lity to make the addendum. 

No answers to your questions?

Status of childcare applications & place allocation

How do I learn about the offer of a place or if it is declined?

Once a care provider has decided on allo­ca­ting a place, the provider will contact you by email or letter. You will then receive either a time-limited place reser­va­tion, which you still have to confirm either via the link in the email, by tele­phone, by answe­ring the letter or in your personal account, or you will be declined with a corre­spon­ding reason (e.g. no free capacity).

Important to know:
1. LITTLE BIRD has no influence on how the faci­lity in ques­tion, the sponsor, the council decides to commu­ni­cate with you. Each council itself decides whether or not the offer of a place can also be accepted or declined via a personal account.
2. If you’ve made more than one child­care appli­ca­tion, you can only receive one offer of a place. All other appli­ca­tions are put on hold. As soon as you decline an offer, the other child­care appli­ca­tions become active again.
3. If you have been declined, you can make a new child­care appli­ca­tion with another child­care provider and re-use any poten­tial “has become available” prio­rity there.

How long will it take for me to receive feedback from the childcare provider?

The length of time it takes to process your application(s) for child­care, the time until you get feed­back, contact is made and the allo­ca­tion of places are the respon­si­bi­lity of the child­care provi­ders or the coun­cils them­selves. LITTLE BIRD has no influence on this.

If you urgently need a place, please also contact your local youth services office. You can find the contact persons below after selec­ting your council.

Why can I only be allocated one place?

The LITTLE BIRD admi­nis­tra­tive system creates equal oppor­tu­nity by exclu­ding the possi­bi­lity that some parents might simul­ta­neously be offered several child­care places while others have to leave empty-handed or have to wait longer.

As soon as an offer is made in the system, the other appli­ca­tions are put on hold (inac­tive).

If you accept the place within the speci­fied time limit, the child is considered to be provided for. If you decline the offer, all other appli­ca­tions are auto­ma­ti­cally acti­vated again (active).

According to which criteria will the places be allocated?

As a rule, each child­care provider itself decides on the allo­ca­tion of places.
The criteria also differ from council to council. LITTLE BIRD has no influence on this.

If you have any ques­tions, please contact your council’s respon­sible contact person. You can find the contact persons below after selec­ting your council further down on this page.

How can I change my data afterwards (such as the given priorities, time for childcare, house move, etc.)?

If the service is active for your council, you can change your data by using the “pencil” icon on the child­care application/waiting list entries. Switch to the “Childcare” tab for infor­ma­tion such as prio­rity, time for child­care, etc.
It is possible to change personal data in the respec­tive tab “Personal data Child/First contract partner/Second contract partner”.

If your council has not acti­vated this service, you will not be able to change your already submitted child­care appli­ca­tion after­wards.
However, you can contact the child­care provi­ders OR, depen­ding on the council, also the admi­nis­tra­tion with your requests to make changes.

You will find the contact person after you have selected your council further down on this page.

How can I place a sibling/twin with the same childcare provider? 

Please enter the child­care appli­ca­tions in your desired faci­li­ties for each child indi­vi­du­ally. You can enter a comment directly in the form for each respec­tive child­care appli­ca­tion, stating that you are looking for child­care for several children from the same child­care provider.

In case one of your children is already being looked after by the same child­care provider, you like­wise have the option to indi­cate this directly in the respec­tive child­care appli­ca­tion form.

Why do I still have to introduce myself personally?

The parent portal does not replace a personal meeting between the child­care provider and family, but rather provides tech­nical support. Besides, intro­du­cing yourself perso­nally is also indis­pensable for the process of iden­ti­fying you as a real person. You are considered “intro­duced” if you have iden­ti­fied yourself with a docu­ment confir­ming your identity.

How can I contact the childcare provider personally or directly?

To make direct contact with a child­care provider, use the child­care provider’s contact details in the respec­tive portal profiles. If the data you require are not entered in the respec­tive profiles, please contact the council. You can find the contact persons below after selec­ting your council further down on this page.

No answers to your questions?

Get in contact and clarify your problem individually.

Individual contact