Last autumn, Dagbladet revealed that a number of foster children were illegally placed in the foster home. The illegal placements were uncovered through an inspection by a state administrator in Western Norway, which came after several reports of concern about neglect in the foster home.
The foster parents believe they are approved as a foster home (see separate text box further down in the article).
The children who were placed in foster care on the farm came from all over the country, and a total of eight child welfare services have placed children there in recent years, according to the child protection agency. The State Administrator’s Office in Western Norway therefore led the State Administrators in Oslo and Viken, Troms and Finnmark and Vestfold and Telemark to open inspections of the municipalities that had placed children there in their counties.
Two children left on the farm
Now these three state administrators conclude that the child protection service has committed a number of offenses in connection with the foster home placements, and that the placements have been illegal.
Among other things, the child welfare services have failed to obtain police certificates, which means that they have not been able to know whether the foster parents have had a clean record or not.
Dagbladet is not aware that the foster parents must have a character that dictates that they should not work with children.
Most of the children who lived on the farm were quickly moved after Dagbladet wrote about the foster home.
However, two foster children remained on the farm. This is confirmed by the child protection in the municipality where the foster home is located and the child protection in the two municipalities the children come from.
A municipality in Troms and Finnmark and a municipality in Oslo and Viken defy the state administrators and allow the children to continue living on the farm illegally.
Dagbladet has anonymised the municipalities so as not to identify the children.
Foster mother not approved
Through the supervision of the state trustees, it emerges that the municipalities in Oslo and Viken, which still have a child placed on the farm, have not followed up the child as they are required to. Documents that Dagbladet has seen show that they did not approve the foster mother as a foster parent either, only the foster father.
Despite this and despite the many reports of concern that have come in about conditions on the farm, the child protection service in the municipality chooses to let the child stay there illegally.
– We are still in the process and making assessments together with the parties, says the head of the child welfare service to Dagbladet.
– What is the reason why you choose to have a child illegally placed on the farm?
– Even if the State Administrator found that the foster home did not meet formal legal and regulatory requirements and a lack of formal approval of the foster home has been pointed out, this does not necessarily mean that it is in the best interests of the child to move. Many different conditions must be considered, says the head of the child protection service.
Section chief Atle Grønstøl at the State Trustees in Oslo and Viken will not answer how they are now following up the child protection service which continues to break the Child Protection Act and does not move the child.
“Not justifiable”
The other municipality that still has a child placed on the farm receives harsh criticism in the conclusion from the State Administrator in Troms and Finnmark.
The state administrator states that the child protection service has broken five sections of the Child Protection Act, three sections of the Foster Home Regulations and, in addition, a section of the Municipal Act.
The offenses concern, among other things, that the child protection agency has allowed the foster home to operate without approval and without obtaining police certificates and health certificates. In its conclusion, the Statsforvalteren in Troms and Finnmark writes that “it is our assessment that the child welfare service’s work with the approval of the foster home has not been proper”.
Last autumn, Dagbladet conducted a survey among all the country’s child protection services. It showed that several hundred children in Norway are placed in foster homes before the home is approved and that several child protection agencies approve foster homes without obtaining a police certificate.
Forced girl (15) to live there
The child welfare service in Troms and Finnmark is the same that in 2021 forced a 15-year-old girl to live in a foster home, despite the fact that she had been attacked by another foster child.
Dagbladet has asked the child welfare service why they choose to have a child illegally placed on the farm, the child welfare manager does not want to answer that.
This is not the first time the child protection service in Troms and Finnmark has broken the Child Protection Act. The state administrator has several times in recent years pointed out violations of the law.
The children tried to speak up
However, other municipalities in the country were quick to take action, including a municipality in Vestfold and Telemark which urgently moved the children they had placed on the farm after Dagbladet revealed the illegal placements.
The municipality carried out an in-house inspection which showed that they had committed offenses related to the approval of the foster home. The Egentilsynet also revealed that the child protection service had failed to follow up the children, who tried to report conditions on the farm.
– We are not going to place children in this home again, says the head of the child welfare service in Vestfold and Telemark to Dagbladet.
The article series is supported by Dagbladet’s Foundation.
