At the beginning of June, the serious child protection case broke. A technical error had meant that many reports of concern to the child protection service had never been received. Bergen was the first municipality to come out and tell about the serious failure, but over 244 municipalities in the country use the service provided by Visma. Visma has stated that 67 reports of concern have gone astray. So far, Norwegian municipalities have identified 57 of them. The Directorate for Children and Families (Bufdir) gave Norwegian municipalities a deadline of 15 June to report whether or not they had reports of concern about deviations or not in order to map out the failure. But 78 municipalities have not responded, shows the overview from the directorate. – Very seriously, says Children’s Ombudsman Inga Bejer Engh: One of the municipalities that has not responded is Askøy municipality in Vestland: – Now we have responded, we got a reminder when news called. Our childcare manager had made this clear, but then she missed the deadline. I hope Bufdir includes our answer in the list. That’s what Torill Svendsen, section leader for family and inclusion in the municipality, says. MEET THE PRESS: City councilor Rune Bakervik (Ap) and child welfare councilor Line Berggreen Jacobsen (Ap) shared the news about the national child welfare failure in Bergen. Photo: Linnea Skare Oskarsen / news The letter from Bufdir was not discovered Svendsen says that she had not realized that the letter from Bufdir had arrived. – This is a very serious matter. What kind of signal do you think it sends to your residents, that Askøy has not responded by the deadline? – Our IT department has repeatedly checked the system thoroughly and taken random samples, without finding any deviations. Nor have we been contacted by Visma about possible errors, says Svendsen and adds: – In addition, we published information on 6 June and encouraged our residents to get in touch if they have sent messages of concern without receiving a response from the child protection service. We have not received any inquiries. – Are you sure there is no one you haven’t caught? – So far we have not discovered anyone, but the call is still there. We have also started work on creating a routine to be able to prevent and detect any errors in the system ourselves, says Svendsen. Aurland, Lærdal, Modalen and Kvinnherad in Vestland are also among the municipalities that have not responded to Bufdir. – Unfortunately, the municipality did not meet the short deadline. The case will be answered by the responsible case manager today. Our municipality is not affected by the error, writes municipal director of Kvinnherad Leif Ove Mikkelsen. He adds that the municipality, on the same morning that the error was made public, ascertained that they were not affected. Aurland also writes that they have not discovered any errors. – MISS: Torill Svendsen, section leader for family and inclusion in the municipality, says that it was a mistake that Askøy did not meet the deadline. Photo: PRIVAT Children’s Ombud: – The ministry must follow up the Children’s Ombud Engh, says she is surprised that only 68 per cent of the municipalities have responded by the deadline. – When municipalities do not respond within the deadline in such a serious matter, I expect the ministry to follow up. All municipalities must report on this, so that all stones can be turned over. In addition, the ministry must get clarity on how this could happen and ensure that it does not happen again, she says. Engh emphasizes that it is crucial that all municipalities obtain an overview and encourage residents to report again. – We may risk that some children will now suffer as a result of this. I would like to remind you that this is about children who may be in very vulnerable situations, she says. – SERIOUS: Children’s ombudsman Inga Beyer Engh believes the ministry must step in when many municipalities have not responded to Bufdir by the deadline. Photo: Sveinung Arnestad
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Only 166 out of 244 have responded in child protection cases – news Vestland
