Child protection in rural areas – home based measurements NFBO 2014 Nuuk 26. august

Iceland Population * Nr. of children * Municipalities 74 * Statistic Iceland

Child protection in Iceland Child protection committees: 27 * CP workers: 120 Mandatory duty to notify CP Referrals to CP services: * – In the capital area: – Outside the capital area: Number of cases: Barnaverndarstofa

4

Measures/support in CP The state: Out of home care placements ; –Foster homes –Institutions and treatment homes Special measures; –MST –Children´s house –Pilot projects (children and violence in close relationships etc.) The municipalities: Home based measures/support ; – Provide parental guidance and support – Work in collaboration with the relevant agencies to have measures applied under the terms of other legislations – Arrange suitable support or treatment for the child involved – Provide the child or family with a contact person, personal support worker or support family – Assist parents or an expectant mother to access treatment for illness, alcohol or substance abuse, or other personal problems 5

What is known? State run measures –These are visible in media and in public debate –Some body of research –Evidence based practice (partly) 18,3% (2012) Community based measures – These are not visible in media and in public debate – Lack of overview – Little research to date – Little knowledge exists about children’s own perspectives, parents and social workers – Little knowledge exists about the outcomes and effectiveness of measures 81,7% (2012) 6

The study The research questions: –What measures do municipalities have in CP? –What factors influence what measures are used? –What is known about the outcome of measures used and how are these assessed? –What further measures are needed and if so what kind? The aim of the research –To get an overview of measures used by municipalities –To make the measures more visible in order to facilitate assessments of how they support children, mothers and fathers in CP cases and their outcomes Ongoing study –Qualitative interviews with social workers – ongoing –Interviews with children and parents are being planned 7

The study A questionaire was sent to all CP workers (120) The response rate was 71.7% (86) –42.3% from the capital area 57,7% outside the cap area –63,3% social workers –5,8% psychologists –17,4% other profession 5,8% capital area 11,6% outside the capital area –10.5% ? “Think about your three last cases when answering the question…” 8

Findings: measures from CP workers; child 9

Findings: mearsures from CP workers; mothers and fathers 10

Findings: measures from CP workers; parents and family 11

Findings: arrange support from others; child 12

Findings: arrange support from others, mother and father 13

Findings: other mearsures 14

Findings: financial support 15

Sufficient measures? 16

Further measures needed Cap. area Fewer cases would lead to a more focused work – and better results More flexibility in the use of measures More family centred work is needed Institutions for acute placement are needed Out. cap. area We need access to MST Help to families when a child is abusing drug/alcohol Provide support in the home of he child Contact persons need to have a professional background Children out. cap. area should be entitled to the same kind of measures as children in the cap. area More professional staff is needed in small municipalities More general measures are needed for families 17

Findings There seem to be little difference in the use of measures between the capital area and the rest of the country Diverse measures are in place for the child, mother and father The measures for the father are weak but stronger than has been indicated in earlier research (Guðrún Kristinsdóttir, 1991; Anni G. Haugen, 2012) The demands for further development of measures are mostly to the state – not to the municipalities 18

Implication for policy making Policy making must take into account the importance of equal opportunity for all children in the country and their families to have access to sufficient help and support from the child protection The problems in families are complex The focus in measurements needs to be on the child –But the child is also a part of a family –A holistic view on the child´s situation is needed Child protection cannot work in isolation– it need´s collaboration with other professionals and agencies who work with children Cp. workers must be given the opportunity to deal with the complexities involved in their work, both in regards to the children and their families but also in regards to the multi collaboration that is needed 19

Reflection Many measures are used – and the child, mother and father seem to get numerous measures at the same time. –What is the content of each measure? How do the cp worker define counselling and treatment? What is parental advise? How often does the cp worker meet each family member, etc.? –How conscious are the cp workers about the use of all of them? –How does the measures influence each other? –What is the effect of them? –Could it be that using numerous measures is a way of showing that the cp is doing something? –Would fewer and flexible measures used in a more focused manner be more effective? More knowledge is needed about the children´s, mother´s and father´s perspectives of the services and the effectiveness of the measurements 20

Thank you 21