Summary of countrywide supervision in 2011 of municipal child welfare services – examination and evaluation

Do Norwegian municipalities ensure that the work of child welfare services is adequate in relation to examination of cases, evaluation of the care provided, and children are given the opportunity to participate? In this report we summarize the findings from countrywide supervision of municipal child welfare services in 2011. Supervision was carried out by the Offices of the County Governors. The report is based on supervision reports from 44 municipalities.

If this work is inadequate, the result can be that vulnerable children do not receive essential care at the right time, that the care provided does not function as planned, or that inadequate parental care is not detected.

Children’s right to be heard is a basic principle and applies to all factors that affect the child. Inadequate child participation was a commonly reported finding in the supervision reports. There was no systematic procedure for whether children were spoken to or not.

Breaches of the law, or areas with potential for improvement, were identified in 40 of the 44 municipalities.

The Offices of the County Governors will follow up these findings with the municipalities involved.