The case in a nutshell: A national inspection from the Norwegian Health Authority shows that three out of four unloading shelters have broken the law. Children do not get the habilitation they need at the children’s and respite homes. Of 67 children’s and respite homes in the country, 51 of them had broken the law, i.e. 76 per cent. The offenses vary from residence to residence, which indicates that the work is not as systematic as it should be. There is a lack of knowledge, little involvement of parents, a lack of management and leadership, and too poor cooperation. The Norwegian Health Authority also points out that some housing estates have good habilitation processes. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – It’s not okay at all. That’s not how it should be, says Torunn Paus. Her son Oliver (13) has spent a lot of time in respite care homes, but has not always received the follow-up he needs. Last autumn, news told that he had been on YouTube for 12 hours on his iPad on a Saturday when he had been on load. His communication app was also little used. – My stomach hurts. They should have taken him on a trip, played ball, whatever. A whole day in front of the screen does nothing for his development, said mother Torunn Paus. – I think it is actually completely unnecessary for us to spend time, energy and feelings on something that should actually have worked in accordance with regulations, legislation and internal control, says Torunn. Here she is with the son, where they use the iPad to communicate. Photo: Simon Skjelvik Brandseth / news Now she reacts to a new report from the Norwegian Health Authority. It states that nearly eight out of ten children’s and respite homes in the country have broken the law. In sheer numbers, this applies to 51 out of 67 dwellings. There is a lack of knowledge, little involvement of parents, a lack of management and leadership, and too poor cooperation. The Norwegian Health Authority’s five main conclusions in the report: Lack of knowledge means that children do not get habilitation. Children and parents are not involved, and the service is therefore not adapted to the children. Lack of management and management leads to professional failure in the children’s and respite homes. Poor cooperation means that the children do not get proper help. Some of the children’s and respite homes have good habilitation processes. Source: The report “The most important thing is that the children are safe and have a good time.” Summary of nationwide supervision of children’s and respite care homes 2022–2023 Pause is not surprising. – This is obviously how it should be in the institutions. It’s just something we have to find ourselves in. It’s very tragic, she says. The Norwegian Health Authority: Serious findings The report is a summary of inspections the state administrators have carried out in their counties in 2022 and 2023. The aim was to find out whether children in children’s and respite homes received the habilitation they needed. But a number of violations of the law have been found in several fields. Director Sjur Lehmann of the Norwegian Health Authority believes the findings are serious, and says it is imperative that relief housing facilities implement measures and plans. – It is extremely important that the children’s and respite care homes are not perceived as just a place to stay, live and relieve stress, but also a place where all measures that can help improve function and lead to a better life, go into a whole , says Sjur Lehmann. Photo: Sissel Rikheim – If not, children cannot miss out on developing skills and having a significantly better or more self-help life, says Lehmann. – It can also be of great concern to relatives, who in such settings will feel that there is something essential missing from the storage shed, he adds. Recommendations from the report Recommendations to the municipalities The municipalities must strengthen their knowledge of children’s right to habilitation, and what is needed to achieve good habilitation processes in children’s and respite homes. The municipalities must implement measures so that the children in the children’s and respite homes and their parents can participate in the design of goals and measures for habilitation, and in the evaluation and correction of these. The municipalities must implement measures that ensure that interaction with the children in children’s and respite homes takes place using the form of communication that the children use. The municipalities must ensure systematic management of habilitation in the children’s and respite homes. The municipalities must ensure that children’s and respite homes are part of the interdisciplinary collaboration around children who need habilitation. The collaboration must be based on the needs of the children, and the children’s and respite care home must be involved in drawing up common goals for the children. Recommendations for government authorities The Directorate of Health should consider incorporating judgments on good practice in children’s and respite care homes in the guidance material on habilitation. The Norwegian Directorate of Health should consider whether the KOSTRA figures should include an overview of the number of children’s and respite care homes. The Norwegian Directorate of Health should consider an audit of the heads of law dealing with habilitation, and contribute to the implementation of good practice for the sub-services. The Ministry of Health and Welfare should consider whether the offer in children’s and respite care homes should be regulated to a greater extent in order to improve the legal security of the children. Source: The report “The most important thing is that the children are safe and have a good time.” Summary of nationwide inspection of children’s and drop-off homes 2022–2023 Little change for Oliver Torunn Paus says that the Varafjell drop-off center in Bjørnafjorden in Vestland has been trying to correct the deviations around Oliver since last year. But she says that she has also had to write non-conformities this year. She thinks it shouldn’t be necessary. – It would have to be good enough to let them know that ‘this is not right’, and that they correct it, instead of me having to write a deviation and spend a lot of time and energy writing to the state administrator, says Paus. Through an app, both Oliver and others can press various symbols, which in turn make it easier to communicate. Paus believes this has been used too little at the unloading centre. Photo: Simon Skjelvik Brandseth / news Nina Yvonne Matre, head of buffalo communities and relief homes in Bjørnafjorden municipality, agrees with Paus. – I hope we can have a better dialogue. It shall not be necessary to send deviations to the state administrator. If she experiences a bad dialogue with the relief worker, I would like her to contact me before she goes to the state administrator, she says. And add: – It is like this in the healthcare system in general that there are a number of procedures and routines that you have to adhere to. It does not always match the wishes of parents. Matre emphasizes that she has not found any new discrepancies in Paus’s case since April, when their case was closed by the state administrator. – But there has been a bit of nonsense with the case and archive system in the municipality recently, so that I can’t find it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, says Matre. Varafjell unloading center is an offer for children and young people under the age of 18 with reduced functional abilities. They have 10 places for children and young people with combined disabilities. Photo: Simon Skjelvik Brandseth / news Peikar sets a good example It is the state administrators who must follow up and ensure that deviations in the housing estates are rectified. The Norwegian Health Authority points out that there are also some housing estates that have good habilitation processes. – It is our hope that those who get this right can be a guide for the municipalities that have a long way to go, says Lehmann. Characteristics of the housing estates that had good practice Habilitation is carried out systematically and is documented. The action plans are used actively on a daily basis. The journaling corresponds to the measures and sub-goals and serves as a basis for evaluation. The residence has a strong focus on habilitation and joint responsibility for good documentation of the services provided. There are good routines for training employees in both procedures for implementing measures and training in record keeping. The employees feel confident in the tasks they were assigned to perform. The children expressed what they wanted, and this was taken into account when choosing activities. Parents were always kept informed about how their children were doing in the residence. Many residential homes had good systems for collecting information at the start and for having updated information, for example by: Parents filling in a survey form before the first stay. The parents and children were allowed to meet the home before starting. Employees visited the school/nursery to see how they worked. A “my life story” was created for the children with an overview of important information about how the children function and their need for assistance. The information was recorded and/or entered into a subject system. The information was updated through regular verbal contact with parents and a contact book. A responsibility group meeting was held 2–4 times a year where parents contributed. Source: The report “The most important thing is that the children are safe and have a good time.” Summary of nationwide supervision of children’s and respite care homes 2022–2023 Requests a meeting Children’s ombudsman Mina Gerhardsen calls for efforts and changes following the report. – Our expectation is that these institutions will be better regulated, in the same way as other institutions for children, says Gerhardsen. – There is a lot of time in childhood, for many, that happens in a place like that. Then it is important that quality, competence and control are taken care of, much better than today, says Mina Gerhardsen. Photo: Children’s ombudsman Ho emphasizes that the last inspection was over 14 years ago. – We are talking about offers that apply to some of our most vulnerable children, who often cannot speak up even about the situation they are in. They need quality and safety to be taken care of, says Gerhardsen. The children’s ombudsman has asked for a meeting with the Ministry of Health and the Norwegian Directorate of Health to ensure the children’s right to proper health and care services in institutions. Hope for change Back in Bjørnafjorden, the Paus family have now got a BPA scheme for Oliver which they think is working. They have been lucky with the assistants. With BPA, Oliver can go on walks and fishing trips, among other things. It also gives the family a better situation when Oliver is less at the relief home. – We don’t want to put him away. I want to have as much time as possible with Oliver. The BPA scheme in the municipality has given us much more family time together, says Torunn Paus. Here from when news interviewed her in 2023. Photo: Simon Skjelvik Brandseth / news They have thus cut down on the time Oliver is at the unloading centre. Now Paus hopes for change in institutions that take care of children like Oliver: That there will be more stable personnel, more resources, better record keeping, follow-up and more communication with guardians. – I hope that all parents and all children can actually lower their shoulders and feel that they are being taken care of. And that for the future there is a little more focus on this. She adds: – None of us has asked to have a child who is sick. Nobody has asked us to be dependent on a municipal service or an institution, says Paus. Bjørnafjorden municipality believes that today they provide a good offloading offer. Following the national inspection, the municipality has, among other things, followed up with users, updated plans and created new procedures. – This was a system inspection which mainly uncovered shortcomings in training and use of the record system. It has been straightened out, says Nina Yvonne Matre. Please advise! Hello! Do you have input or tips after reading this case? Do not hesitate to get in touch. Published 19.08.2024, at 06.09
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Three out of four unloading shelters had broken the law – news Vestland
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