Right now there are 200 children waiting to be adopted by a foster family. Unfortunately, most municipalities struggle to recruit enough foster homes, and many foster parents tell of a system that means they do not want to be in foster homes again. The criticism from the foster parents is recognisable. Over the past year, the children’s ombudsman has spoken to children and young people who live or have lived in foster homes. We have also spoken to foster parents and staff in child protection to get to the bottom of the scheme’s strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, we see a foster home care that is built on temporariness and fear of contact on the part of the authorities. The legislation means that many children, even after several years in foster care, do not get clarification on where they will live next week, next month or next year. It is a paradox considering that what the children need is primarily calm and stability. Children in foster care have to deal with many meetings with child welfare services, supervisors and other helpers. Contact persons are often changed, which increases the number of people the children have to deal with. Most have contact with their parents. For some children, the parents are still an important resource, as long as the cooperation works well. But for others it is difficult, and growing up in foster care can involve lengthy processes in the child welfare board and court. The sum of this makes everyday life chaotic and unpredictable. Listen to podcasts: On the inside of child protection The authorities must dare to make more final decisions, so that children do not have to grow up in unpredictability. There is therefore a need to rethink and create better frameworks around the foster home scheme. Children in foster care must be given stronger rights. Although children have a right to participate, many feel that their opinion is not given weight. Therefore, all children in foster care should have the right to a lawyer, and children over the age of 12 should be given party rights. Foster parents must be allowed to make more decisions for the children. Everyday life becomes complicated when foster parents do not have the authority to make the same decisions that parents otherwise make, such as referral to support services, applying for an after-school program, setting up a bank account and Vipps, or gaining access to helsenorge.no and public documents that concern the child. The children have to avoid so many legal processes. Children tell us that they are exhausted and insecure by repeated court cases about where they should live. Today, parents can ask the board every year to decide whether the children should move back. It’s too often. At some point, the children must get clarification on whether they should move back in with their parents or not. Even if a stay in a foster home is temporary, and the goal is reunification with the parents, the children cannot live in “eternal temporaryness”. The authorities must at some point decide whether the foster home is to become the child’s permanent care base. In Sweden, the regulations allow children after two years in foster care to get clarification on where they will live permanently. The Children’s Protection Committee has recently proposed something similar in Norway, which we support. In order to improve the system, we must listen to the children’s experiences and gather knowledge from actors in the field and research. In this way, the authorities can succeed in putting the foster homes in a position to give children and young people the care and help they need. ALSO READ:
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A safe home – Statement
