– I am tired of the government time and again ignoring Oslo when they are supposed to strengthen institutional child welfare, says Oslo’s social welfare council Julianne Ferskaug (V) to news. She is referring to the government’s proposal to allocate an extra NOK 800 million to child protection in 2025, in order to increase capacity and so that the state can take greater responsibility for the children in greatest need. But the main pot for strengthening state child welfare, which is over half a billion kroner, Oslo does not get to see anything. The remaining millions are distributed among various child protection measures. See all the points here: Here the measures from the government are NOK 552 million more for state child protection to handle increased prices and the permission for private framework agreements to fulfill the duty of assistance, and ensure long-term capacity building. This should help meet the needs of children with large and complex needs and reduce individual purchases in the future. More government institutional places must also be established for children with large and complex needs. NOK 58 million for piloting a new arrangement of institutional child protection, with greater elements of interdisciplinary expertise from child protection and health. NOK 20 million to test a pilot in child protection institutions to strengthen the offer within existing institutions for children with repeated or serious crime. NOK 26 million for the development of MST (Multisystemic Therapy) services, as part of the investment in the prevention of child and youth crime. NOK 20 million for crime prevention parent support work, to strengthen parents so that they can fulfill their parental responsibilities and be good carers for their children. NOK 114 million to strengthen the foster home area, of which NOK 50 million to ensure better follow-up of foster homes. Among other things, this will go towards strengthening professional and initiative support for the municipalities in their work with foster care and strengthening the subsidy scheme for learning networks, so that several municipalities can establish common foster care services and measures to increase the use of family advice. NOK 64 million will go to ensure foster parents a service pension. This is done by increasing the framework grant to the municipalities to compensate the municipalities for expected additional expenses for service pensions for foster parents. The aim is to recruit more foster parents who will remain in the role over time, and provide more peace and stability for the children. NOK 28 million to update the case management system in the state child protection system, to provide increased access to essential management information, analysis data and digital solutions. Source: regjeringen.no Excludes The state child protection agency runs institutions and recruits foster homes, and is subject to the National Bureau of Statistics. But this does not apply to Oslo. Oslo is the only municipality in the country that is itself responsible for all child welfare services, and therefore does not fall under the state child welfare system. As a result, they also do not get any of the 552 million kroner set aside for state child protection, city councilor Ferskaug points out. – Oslo municipality faces the same challenges as the rest of the country when it comes to price increases and pressure on supply. Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) presented the national budget on Monday 7 October. Photo: Cicilie Sigrid Andersen / news She also points to the increase in serious episodes of violence committed by young people during the criminal minimum age. – In light of this, it is incomprehensible that the government turns a blind eye to the capital’s need to look after these children, says the city council. Kjetil Ostling is director of the Norwegian Children’s and Family Agency in Oslo, and therefore chief executive of child protection in the capital. He says that Oslo is clearly feeling the pressure as a result of more youth crime, and that they are also being hit by the fact that things are becoming more expensive. – When Oslo is aware of the same challenges, but does not receive additional grants from the state on the same level as the rest of the country, it becomes very demanding to provide an equal offer to children with a vulnerable life situation in Norway, says Østling. – The Storting has given Oslo the responsibility for children in need of specialized child protection measures, and then the state has the responsibility to make arrangements so that we are actually able to take care of that responsibility, says Kjetil Ostling, director of the Norwegian Children’s and Family Agency in Oslo. Photo: Håvard Greger Hagen / news Wants 65 million More than 11 percent of all children and young people under the age of 19 in Norway live in Oslo. Therefore, the city council believes that the same share of the money allocation should go to the capital. According to the city council department’s figures, this means almost NOK 65 million. – The city council prioritizes stronger institutional child protection and allocates funds in an already tight Oslo budget, but the government does not take Oslo into account when they set their budget, says Julianne Ferskaug. Hoping for help The problem is not new. Also in 2023 and in 2022, injustice was pointed out by strengthening the national child protection system, but not the child protection system in Oslo. Both times SV entered into budget negotiations to allocate more money to the capital. This is something Julianne Ferskaug hopes will happen this year as well. – Now I trust that SV can rectify this in the budget negotiations at the Storting, as they have done before. The government responds Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe (Sp) has been presented with the criticism from Oslo. She replies that Oslo municipality is not being ignored by the government, and that they have received over NOK 3 billion more in discretionary income, i.e. money they can spend on whatever they want. – Oslo municipality is free to prioritize its budget as it wishes, including for child protection. Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe. Photo: Håkon Benjaminsen Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe says that child welfare services in Oslo are just as important as those in the rest of the country, but that “the financing of child welfare services in Oslo is the municipality’s responsibility, and a responsibility Oslo itself wants to have”. It is therefore financed through framework grants from the Ministry of Local Government and District Affairs. Toppe further says that next year Oslo will receive increased funding for the government’s initiative to prevent and deal with child and youth crime. – Among other things, in the area of child welfare, the municipality is being strengthened with NOK 8 million to build up a specialized home-based aid measure for young people. Published 12.10.2024, at 07.40
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– Ignores Oslo – Greater Oslo
