NRK wrote earlier in May about Knut Wågø, who experienced that the school called the child welfare service when it was revealed that his son experienced bullying and dissatisfaction at the school. – We have our willingness to cooperate. When you get it back, you lose all confidence in the school, said Knut Wågø. The child welfare case in Wågø was dropped, and a decision from the State Administrator in Trøndelag gave the school strong criticism for how they handled the case. STRESSFUL: Knut Wågø found it very stressful to have the child welfare service at the door after he warned about the zone’s poor school environment. Several people have reacted to this in retrospect. Photo: Bent Lindsetmo / NRK The family’s lawyer, Åse Johanna Olsen, believes that it is a widespread problem that students involve child welfare when they have cases of bullying or school refusal that they themselves are unable to handle. – My experience is that the schools to an excessive degree shift the responsibility to the parents. They report to the child welfare service for the smallest conditions, and create problems for the families. According to Olsen, there are many such cases. It seems like a kind of “recipe” in several places in the country to involve child welfare when there is an environmental problem at school, she says. – The municipality misunderstands the law The municipal manager for upbringing and culture in Frøya municipality, thought it was right of the school to contact the child welfare service in the case that NRK has previously mentioned. – All employees in the school have a duty to notify the child welfare service, if one is seriously concerned about a child. One also has a case where one later sees that it is too late. These are not easy assessments, he told NRK. Report to the child welfare service (report of concern) Public employees and others with a duty to report under the Child Welfare Act § 6-4 You have a duty to report to the child welfare service, without undue delay: When there is reason to believe that a child is exposed to serious deficiencies in it daily care or other serious neglect When a child shows serious behavioral difficulties in the form of serious or repeated crime Private individuals If you are concerned about whether a child receives good enough care, you should report to the child welfare service. You do not have to be sure that something is wrong. Once you have reported, it is the child welfare service’s job to assess how the report should be followed up. The vast majority who receive help from the child welfare service receive the help at home. Taking over care only takes place in the most serious cases. Source: Directorate for Children, Youth and Families Psychologist specialist Heidi Wittrup Djup thinks Frøya municipality’s understanding of the law is not correct. She calls it disturbing. – It is not enough to be worried. The conditions in the law are much stricter. One must have reason to believe that there is a serious failure of care, she emphasizes. CRITICAL: Heidi Wittrup Djup is a daily camper at the Clinic for Crisis Psychology in Bergen. Ho meiner Frøya municipality has misunderstood the law. Photo: Natasha Busel / Fana photo studio Frøya municipality: – Unfortunate wording Frøya municipality emphasizes that they follow national guidelines when it comes to the duty to report. The municipal manager has not been available for answers, but assistant municipal director Roger Antonsen writes the following in an e-mail: – The wording was unfortunate. It can be interpreted as if one in the event of a concern contacts the child welfare service in all cases – regardless of the degree of concern. Antonsen is clear that the school can not send a report of concern because cooperation between the school and parents is difficult. The municipality does not wish to comment on whether they still think it was right of the school to contact the child welfare service in the case in question. Known among child welfare leaders – What we react to in the case from Frøya is that it is not unique, says Øystein Sørvig, professional adviser in SOS Children’s Villages. – What we often see is that the schools send a report of concern to the child welfare service, rather than handling the case on their own. This even though it is not a question of care failure. SOS Children’s Villages refers to a survey they conducted in 2021. 94 child welfare leaders were asked if their department had received reports of concern from the school about school refusal, which the school should have handled itself. 79 child welfare leaders were the same or partly the same in this. SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES: Øystein Sørvig is a professional adviser in SOS Children’s Villages, and the victory case on Frøya is far from unique. Photo: Private – Children become throwing balls SOS Children’s Villages points to the child welfare reform, which came into force this year. With this reform, the municipalities were given greater responsibility for the preventive work. – The municipalities were then to build a holistic relief measure, but we see that this was long overdue. Sørvig says this has negative consequences, and sums it up as follows: The child’s family feels that the child welfare service does not belong in the case Trust and dialogue between family and school break down The child welfare service gets more work, which they should not do time, but become throwing balls in a system that only creates frustration, he says. Lawyer: – Strict conditions for reporting Lawyer and professor of law, Bente Ohnstad at Innlandet University College, has written the book “Messages to the child welfare service – Is it enough to be worried?” While working on the book, she checked 100 cases. Ohnstad wrote articles and newspaper articles. Many contacted her because they had been reported to the child welfare service on a “flimsy basis”. Often high absenteeism. AUTHOR: Professor Benthe Ohnstad has written a book about the conditions that form the basis for reporting to the child welfare service. Photo: Erlend Moe / NRK – There are strict conditions for reporting to the child welfare service. One must have reason to believe that there is serious neglect, child abuse or similar serious conditions. In her book, we find, among other things, this formulation: – It seems that one has not become acquainted with the rules at all, but gained an understanding that there is a low threshold for reporting to the child welfare service. It’s wrong. If you have a position in the public sector, there is a high threshold, she states. Summary: Duty to notify 1. A general, undefined concern is not enough to trigger the duty to notify. The concern must be specifically linked to the legal requirement. 2. The duty to notify does not include conditions that can provide a basis for remedial measures, only conditions that can trigger coercive measures. If the idea is that the family needs help, the family must be informed and consent before the child welfare service is involved. 3. The threshold for what can be defined as serious care failure is not intended to be low. 4. No routine messages should be sent. 5. It is the reporter himself who must assess whether there is reason to believe that the child is exposed to serious neglect. 6. The criterion «serious behavioral difficulties» only includes behavioral difficulties that provide a basis for placement in a behavioral institution. 7. The criterion “when a child in need of special assistance does not have his or her special need for treatment or education covered” does not authorize access to an assessment. 8. The duty to notify must not be confused with the right to information. 9. It is the sender’s responsibility to ensure the quality of the information provided. Insight into the responsibilities of the child welfare service and other support agencies is important in order to be able to offer help from the right agency at the right time. 11. A report to the child welfare service is not exempt from the rules on abuse of authority. Source: “Messages to the child welfare service – Is it enough to be worried?” (Bente Ohnstad / Ylve Gudheim) – The schools must take responsibility Division Director Anders Henriksen in the Directorate for Children, Youth and Families (Bufdir) says it is important that the schools follow up on the duty to contact the child welfare service. But that it is at the same time unfortunate when the schools themselves do not provide the help and facilitation the child needs. – The schools must take their responsibility for these children, and not shift the responsibility onto the child welfare service, he states. In 2020, the child welfare service received 56,802 reports of concern for children under 18 years of age. There was a slight decline from 2019. The number of reports to the child welfare service has increased, but has stabilized in recent years. Skulane is among those who send the most reports of concern. NRK has presented the claim from lawyer Olsen that more schools connect the child welfare service if they have challenges with the school environment. Bufdir answers as follows: – We have clarified to the Directorate of Education how important it is that no routine reports are sent to the child welfare service, without a concrete assessment of whether the reporting obligation has been fulfilled. It’s against the law. Must be more accurate The municipal sector’s organization (KS) writes in an e-mail to NRK that there are good digital guidelines for how both private individuals and public employees can report to the child welfare service. – We know that these are used actively in the municipalities, writes special adviser Guro Sannes Nordby. Ohnstad believes that there is a lack of a basic understanding of the regulations, and receives support from psychologist Djup. – It has become a mantra in society that one should report once too much rather than once too little. It loads the system. She aims to prevent the child welfare service from using its resources on families who actually need help, because they have to deal with reports of concern that should never have been sent. – We must be more accurate in the messages to the child welfare service. No one is tempted to send unfounded messages to the child welfare service.
ttn-69
– The children become throwing balls – NRK Trøndelag
