LATEST: Alette Hilton Knudsen is leaving as agency director for children and families in Bergen municipality, she wrote in a press release on Monday evening. – This has not been an easy decision. Over time, the pressure on the agency has been great, including on me as manager. My hope is that my resignation will create working peace in the organisation. Knudsen further writes that her goal has been to bring about changes and highlights Familiens hus as an example. Municipal director Tommy Johansen said that he got the message this afternoon. – It is clear that it has been very demanding around child protection in Bergen for many years. Now Knudsen chose to say that she was aware of her desire to resign from her position. I’m sorry for that, but I understand it at the same time, he says. It is not clear on Monday evening who will step into Knudsen’s position. – We will start the job of finding an intermediate solution tomorrow and then clarify the position, says Johansen. Two devastating inspection reports Two devastating inspection reports with child protection in Bergen may be about to send the municipality into a political crisis. It is the city council in Bergen that is responsible for the child welfare services and now trust among the opposition party is frayed, to say the least: – It is so serious that we cannot allow such things to happen without someone being held accountable for it. Drastic measures are needed for Høgre to have confidence in the city council’s management of child protection, says group leader Charlotte Spurkeland (H) to news måndag. MET THE OPPOSITION: Social councilor Katrine Nødtvedt (MDG) met opposition politicians before the weekend to inform them about immediate measures. Criticism has not stopped since then. Photo: Oddgeir Øystese / news Valhammer: – Not pre-announced She is ready to call an extraordinary meeting of Høgre’s city council group to clarify a possible no-confidence motion against the city council. Several parties are considering it, including SV, the People’s Party (FNB) and the Progress Party. As a result, city council leader Roger Valhammer (Ap) and the rest of the city council may be about to lose their jobs. Last night Valhammer returned from a trip to Asia with Statsraad Lehmkuhl, a trip he has been criticized by many for carrying out. Now the city council leader says that the conclusions in the latest report came as a surprise to him. – I was not prepared for the dramatic findings. It is not good that the initial assessment of the child welfare services was that they had made little mistakes. It is something we have to deal with. It is a serious conclusion from the county medical examiner, where several violations of the law have been uncovered, says Valhammer to news. – Do you feel misinformed by child protection? – It would be wrong to say that, but there could be various reasons why the information has been the way it has been. It could also be that the understanding of what has happened and what legislation has been followed has been different. – Do you have confidence in the management of the children’s welfare? – It is not natural to comment on it, it is a very wrong focus right now. My focus is to find out what happened. Information about several immediate measures on Tuesday news has been in contact with agency director Alette Hilton Knudsen earlier in the day, Monday. She then referred municipal director Tommy Johansen for comment on Valhammer’s statements. In an e-mail he writes: – The administration tries as far as possible to provide information that sheds light on current matters. We are nevertheless cautious about carrying out larger investigations when the State Administrator has open supervision. This is to avoid disturbing or affecting the process. In any case, it will be impossible to carry out a complete parallel inspection. The city council has announced that child protection will undergo a reform, where several measures will be carried out “immediately”. The city council’s immediate measures for child protection in Bergen These are the immediate measures the city council has put in place after becoming aware of the latest cases: Have evaluated and changed routines for follow-up of children in home school. A separate school has been established in the city area called home school. More resources to review findings in various reports. Start-up of joint reception project. Introduced weekly meetings about deviations in the units (previously monthly meetings). Professional days with training for new and experienced employees. Four hours per week are set aside for discussion meetings with the unit manager, a psychologist and a lawyer available to the contact person and head of department, where cases can be submitted for decision or an interdisciplinary discussion. Internal training in all departments with the service’s lawyers on children’s right to participation and the Child Protection Act’s requirements for responsibility. The unit manager has management follow-up with each individual department manager every 2 weeks. Management tools are actively used in these conversations. Revises and updates the common procedure for handling reports of concern. The main features of the plan for the city council in Bergen are this: Core childcare and joint reception: There must be one door for users, and we must ensure better and comprehensive services for those with the greatest need. In this way, we will bring together an environment with cutting-edge expertise and ensure high quality in the most extensive cases. This involves, among other things, a city-wide reception of reports of concern throughout Bergen. Prevention and cooperation: We must ensure early intervention and ensure locally adapted measures in urban areas, and ensure better access to established low-threshold services. Ensure cross-unit networking for all employees. We will strengthen competence and quality in the services through major organizational measures. Source: Bergen municipality Some of the immediate measures were presented to the opposition politicians at a crisis meeting before the weekend. Valhammer tells news that on Tuesday morning he will meet in the business committee of the city council to inform about even more immediate measures that the city council will introduce. – You can get a motion of no confidence against you? – It is not my focus in the whole shoot now. My most important job is to get to the bottom of how this can happen. Children could have been helped earlier and the city council must make arrangements so that child protection can do its job.
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The child protection director in Bergen resigns after devastating inspection reports – news Vestland
