Child welfare

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Next update

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Key figures

54 592

children receiving measures from the Child Welfare Services during 2019

Main figures for the Child Welfare Services statistics
201720182019
Children with measures from the Child Welfare Services during the year55 69755 62354 592
Assistance measures45 52845 58744 821
Care measures10 16910 0369 771
 
Children with measures from the Child Welfare Services per 31 December39 61239 04337 866
Assistance measures30 57930 17529 266
Care measures9 0338 8688 600
 
Children with placement measures per 31 December15 62615 14014 671
Assistance measures6 5936 2726 071
Care measures9 0338 8688 600
 
Notifications during the year58 58057 01357 988
 
Investigations started during the year48 73247 27946 864
Investigations closed during the year48 23548 19446 946
 
Total, employees6 004.66 153.46 243.4

See selected tables from this statistics

Table 1 
Notifications to the Child Welfare Services, by conclusion, age and sex

Notifications to the Child Welfare Services, by conclusion, age and sex
Investigated cases, totalThe case was droppedFor investigation
Year
201758 5809 80548 775
201857 0139 69147 322
 
201957 98811 10346 885
Age
0-2 years6 2921 0445 248
3-5 years9 0321 4607 572
6-12 years24 0084 23219 776
13-17 years17 4614 00413 457
18-22 years1 190360830
Unknown age532
Sex
Boys31 2416 09425 147
Girls26 7475 00921 738
Unknown sex000

Table 2 
Investigations closed by the Child Welfare Services during the year, by conclusion, age and sex

Investigations closed by the Child Welfare Services during the year, by conclusion, age and sex
All conclusionsChild welfare service makes decision on measuresApplication for measures to county welfare boardInvestigation cases closed after assessment by child welfare serviceInvestigation cases closed at parties' requestInvestigation cases closed due to relocationUnknown
Year
201748 23519 33344922 4754 0191 9590
201848 19418 74942123 1734 1111 7400
 
201946 94617 86633822 7584 3371 6470
Age
0-2 years4 8341 739722 3444102690
3-5 years7 4462 709583 6926333540
6-12 years19 6547 9101229 2031 7796400
13-17 years13 7265 189856 7631 3393500
18-22 years1 2843171756176340
Unknown age2200000
Sex
Boys25 1559 78818212 0212 3128520
Girls21 7918 07815610 7372 0257950
Unknown sex0000000

Table 3 
Investigations started and children under investigation started by the Child Welfare Services, by age and sex

Investigations started and children under investigation started by the Child Welfare Services, by age and sex
Investigations started during the year
Year
201748 732
201847 279
 
201946 864
Age
0-2 years5 242
3-5 years7 570
6-12 years19 771
13-17 years13 450
18-22 years829
Unknown age2
Sex
Boys25 138
Girls21 726
Unknown sex0

Table 4 
Children with measures from the Child Welfare Services, during the year and per 31 December, by assistance or care measure, sex and age

Children with measures from the Child Welfare Services, during the year and per 31 December, by assistance or care measure, sex and age
Children with measures from the Child Welfare Services during the yearChildren with measures from the Child Welfare Services per 31 December
2019Total sexBoysGirlsUnknown sexTotal sexBoysGirlsUnknown sex
 
 All measures
Years, total54 59230 14924 443037 86621 03716 8290
0-22 years54 30930 00424 305037 85021 02916 8210
0-17 years46 72625 64021 086032 50417 91614 5880
0-2 years2 9011 5721 32902 0581 1329260
3-5 years5 8623 1812 68104 0022 1821 8200
6-12 years21 38212 0029 380014 6468 2406 4060
13-17 years16 5818 8857 696011 7986 3625 4360
18-22 years7 5834 3643 21905 3463 1132 2330
Care measures
Years, total9 7715 1664 60508 6004 5424 0580
0-22 years9 7715 1664 60508 6004 5424 0580
0-17 years8 9644 7244 24008 6004 5424 0580
0-2 years32716316403101541560
3-5 years83043439607944133810
6-12 years3 8832 0721 81103 7342 0001 7340
13-17 years3 9242 0551 86903 7621 9751 7870
18-22 years8074423650......0
Assistance measures
Years, total44 82124 98319 838029 26616 49512 7710
0-22 years44 53824 83819 700029 25016 48712 7630
0-17 years37 76220 91616 846023 90413 37410 5300
0-2 years2 5741 4091 16501 7489787700
3-5 years5 0322 7472 28503 2081 7691 4390
6-12 years17 4999 9307 569010 9126 2404 6720
13-17 years12 6576 8305 82708 0364 3873 6490
18-22 years6 7763 9222 85405 3463 1132 2330

Table 5 
Measures from the Child Welfare Services per 31 December, by measure

Measures from the Child Welfare Services per 31 December, by measure
2019Measures from the Child Welfare Services per 31 December
All types of measures83 679
Institutions1 146
Child welfare institutions1 093
Other institutions45
Other institutional measures8
Foster homes11 429
Foster homes of family and close network3 169
Foster homes outside family and close network7 042
Public family homes613
Foster homes under § 4-27 Child Welfare Act9
Emergency shelter homes577
Other foster home measures19
Measures to enhance parenting skills22 466
MST (Multisystemic Therapy)341
PMTO (Parent Management Training Oregon)377
FFT (Functional Family Therapy)119
Webster Stratton - The Incredible Years29
ICDP (International Child Development Programme)90
Marte Meo126
Other home-based measures2 144
Family support centres173
Decisions on advice and guidance13 692
Home adviser/therapist2 140
Other measures to enhance parenting skills3 235
Measures to enhance the child's development28 996
Kindergartens1 844
Before and after school care2 567
Leisure activities2 016
Financial assistance7 840
Home visits/respite measures6 737
Support person2 252
Discussion groups/children's groups197
Education and employment417
Aggression Replacement Therapy (ART)3
Other measures to enhance the child's development5 123
Supervision and control4 411
Voluntary supervision at home447
Imposed supervision at home245
Supervised visits1 886
Substance abuse control1 456
Other superivision and control measures377
Networking/cooperation with other services11 177
Family Group Conference1 007
Network meetings263
Individual plan73
Participation in accountability/support groups8 815
Other networking measures/cooperation with other services1 019
Investigation and treatment from other services787
Medical investigation and treatment (§ 4-10 Child Welfare Act)93
Treatment of children with special training needs (§ 4-11 Child Welfare Act)..
Mental health care for children and youths367
Other investigation and treatment measures from other services327
Housing3 267
Financial assistance with own housing1 020
Housing with support (including home share)2 072
Life skills training9
Other housing measures166

Table 6 
Children with measures from the Child Welfare Services, during the year and per 31 December, by immigrant category, country background, assistance or care measure and sex

Children with measures from the Child Welfare Services, during the year and per 31 December, by immigrant category, country background, assistance or care measure and sex
2019Children with measures during the yearChildren with measures during the yearChildren with measures during the yearChildren with measures during the yearChildren with measures during the yearChildren with measures per 31 DecemberChildren with measures per 31 DecemberChildren with measures per 31 DecemberChildren with measures per 31 December
Years, totalType og measuresTotal sexBoysGirlsUnknown sexTotal sexBoysGirlsUnknown sex
 Children and adolescents, total
TotalAll measures54 59230 14924 443037 86621 03716 8290
 Care measures9 7715 1664 60508 6004 5424 0580
 Assistance measures44 82124 98319 838029 26616 49512 7710
EU28/EEA,, Switzerland, USA, Canada, Australia and New ZealandAll measures2 1461 16298401 3437316120
 Care measures25112512602211091120
 Assistance measures1 8951 03785801 1226225000
Asia, Africa, Latin America, Oceania except Australia and New Zealand and Europe except the EU/EEAAll measures13 1307 7855 34509 1645 5663 5980
 Care measures1 73292281001 5268197070
 Assistance measures11 3986 8634 53507 6384 7472 8910
Children are dependents without immigrant-backgroundAll measures39 10921 08518 024027 23014 66312 5670
 Care measures7 7714 1093 66206 8383 6063 2320
 Assistance measures31 14916 87914 270020 39211 0579 3350
UnknownAll measures20711790012977520
 Care measures17107015870
 Assistance measures19010783011469450
Immegrants
TotalAll measures8 0835 0553 02805 8043 7262 0780
 Care measures88446142307483943540
 Assistance measures7 1994 5942 60505 0563 3321 7240
EU28/EEA,, Switzerland, USA, Canada, Australia and New ZealandAll measures1 33672061608574703870
 Care measures1698881014575700
 Assistance measures1 16763253507123953170
Asia, Africa, Latin America, Oceania except Australia and New Zealand and Europe except the EU/EEAAll measures6 7474 3352 41204 9473 2561 6910
 Care measures71537334206033192840
 Assistance measures6 0323 9622 07004 3442 9371 4070
Norwegian-born to immigrant parents
TotalAll measures7 1933 8923 30104 7032 5712 1320
 Care measures1 09958651309995344650
 Assistance measures6 0943 3062 78803 7042 0371 6670
EU28/EEA,, Switzerland, USA, Canada, Australia and New ZealandAll measures81044236804862612250
 Care measures82374507634420
 Assistance measures72840532304102271830
Asia, Africa, Latin America, Oceania except Australia and New Zealand and Europe except the EU/EEAAll measures6 3833 4502 93304 2172 3101 9070
 Care measures1 01754946809235004230
 Assistance measures5 3662 9012 46503 2941 8101 4840

About the statistics

The statistics provide figures on the Child Welfare Services. The figures include notifications, investigations and measures, and the children involved. The work of the Child Welfare Services is aimed at children and adolescents aged 0–22. Figures on full-time equivalents (FTEs) in the Child Welfare Services are also included.

 

Definitions

Definitions of the main concepts and variables

Notifications: Upon receiving a notification, the Child Welfare Services must review it as soon as possible, within a week, and decide whether no action is to be taken or whether an investigation should be initiated. Until 2013, Statistics Norway did not collect data on notifications where no action was taken and where no investigation was initiated.

Investigations: The Child Welfare Services have a right and duty to initiate an investigation when there are reasonable grounds to assume that a child is living in conditions that require intervention pursuant to the Child Welfare Act. Statistics Norway started collecting data on all investigations in 2013. Prior to this, if the Child Welfare Services conducted more than one investigation into the same child, only one investigation was registered; either the investigation that led to a decision to intervene or the first investigation in the statistical year.

Assistance measures: Assistance measures are in accordance with section 4-4 of the Child Welfare Act (corresponds to section 18 – Preventive measures and section 51 – Follow-up measures in the old legislation). Measures can include financial support, kindergarten placement, support contact, supervision, home visits/home respite, home consultancy, respite care in an institution, parent/child care centre placement (home for mothers), outpatient treatment in mental health care for children and adolescents, etc. The new legislation that came into force in 1993 provides for children being removed from the home, and placed in a foster home, for example, without the need for a decision to provide care. According to section 4-4 fifth paragraph of the Act, such placements are categorised as assistance measures.

Care orders: Care orders are in accordance with section 4-12 of the Child Welfare Act (section 19 in the old legislation). All decisions on providing care for a child and placing him or her in foster care are made by the county social welfare board. Care orders are provided for in section 4-12, and include placement in a care centre for minors, foster home, an institution or a training or treatment institution. When the child is in care, all measures aimed at the child are registered as care orders. Until 2013, local authorities was responsible for reporting whether a measure was a care order. As from 2013, Statistics Norway reports whether a measure is an assistance measure or a care order as provided for in the legislation.

Follow-up care: In 1998, amendments to the Child Welfare Act meant that measures that were initiated before a child turned 18 could be continued or replaced with other assistance measures if the child agreed. Such measures can continue until the child reaches 23 years of age, and a generic term for measures in the age group 18-22 is follow-up care.

New children in the Child Welfare Services: All children who are subject to child welfare measures in a statistical year, who are not included in the child welfare statistics in the preceding year, are defined as ‘new children’ with measures. This means that even if the child is registered as a new child in the child welfare statistics, he or she may have received help previously. Use of personal identification numbers is crucial here for identifying the new children in the Child Welfare Services.

Staff are registered under the following education categories: social workers, child welfare educationalists, other university college/university education, office/commercial education, other education/unskilled.

Organisation: Indicates whether the Child Welfare Services are organised as one host municipality partnership and/or as part of NAV.

Quality indicators: Indicates whether the Child Welfare Services have a system for user surveys, if they have a user survey in the statistical year and if the Child Welfare Services have internal controls.

 

Standard classifications

Not relevant

Administrative information

Name and topic

Name: Child welfare
Topic: Social conditions, welfare and crime

Responsible division

Division for Health, care and social statistics

Regional level

Figures for the country as a whole, parts of the country, child welfare regions, counties, municipalities and districts in Oslo.

Frequency and timeliness

Unrevised figures are published in KOSTRA on 15 March every year.

Revised figures are published in KOSTRA on 15 June every year.

More detailed statistics are published every year at the end of June/beginning of July.

International reporting

Nordic Social-Statistical Committee (NOSOSKO).

Microdata

Statistics Norway has yearly datasets and dataset explanations, in addition to a historical dataset at an individual level consisting of figures on assistance measures and/or care orders from the year 1993 and forward.

Background

Background and purpose

The child welfare statistics were first published in 1900, and until 1954, comprised of summary statistics compiled on the basis of annual reports from the predecessor to the current Child Welfare Services. Until 1915, the statistics were produced by the Ministry of Church Affairs and Education, and subsequently by Statistics Norway. Since 1954, child welfare statistics have been prepared based on annual reports from the local authorities. A major reorganisation took place in the 1990s, and in 1992, the range of data was considerably extended. This reorganisation led to a break in some of the time series, including the figures on ‘new’ child welfare clients. Figures on new clients from before and after 1992 are therefore not directly comparable. In 1993, the registration form was changed as a result of new child welfare legislation. The new legislation provides for children being placed outside the home without the need for a decision by the county social welfare board to take over care of the child. However, the figures on children in care from 1993 are comparable.

In 1997, it was decided that notifications to the Child Welfare Services would be excluded, and that only information about who reported the case and the content of the notification would be registered for the children for whom the Child Welfare Services started or ended investigations in the statistical year.

In 1998, an amendment was made to the Child Welfare Act of 1993. The age of children and adolescents who could have follow-up measures was increased from 18-20 to 18-22. Thus, the age group included in the statistics on child welfare was changed.

2002 saw a major reorganisation in the child welfare statistics, with the KOSTRA functions 251 and 252 being included in the reporting basis.

In 2007, the KOSTRA form 15 Child Welfare was changed. The figures on measure categories was expanded.

The reporting of 15 Child Welfare was changed in 2013. The form is no longer available, and the data system can only produce file extractions. All notifications and investigations are now reported, while previously only one investigation was reported per child. The figures on measure categories have been expanded and eight main categories of measures with subcategories have been introduced. Statistics Norway now distinguishes between assistance measures and care orders as provided for in the legislation, and whether the measure is function 251 or 252 according to the measure categories. The local authorities previously reported this themselves.

In 2010, employees in the Child Welfare Services were included in the general child welfare statistics. These were previously published separately http://www.ssb.no/barnevernp/.

Statistics on personnel in the social security offices, which are summary statistics, were first collected in 1984. It was not until 1991 that a distinction was made between the different categories of child welfare staff. In 1992, child welfare was distinguished as a separate service, and positions are now registered according to education, and converted to FTEs. In addition, figures on vacant positions were included as from 31 December 1992. In 2012, positions linked to functions were also reported explicitly in addition to positions in function 244, and in 2013, positions linked to function 252 were also included.

Information on organisation and cooperation was first published in 1993. Quality indicators for the Child Welfare Services were first published in 2006.

Users and applications

Users: Ministry of Children and Families, other ministries, Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir), Norwegian Board of Health Supervision, County Governor, county authorities and local authorities, research institutions, the media and students.

Applications: Public planning, research and studies, education and public debate.

Equal treatment of users

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 8 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar. This is one of Statistics Norway’s key principles for ensuring that all users are treated equally.

Coherence with other statistics

Not relevant

Legal authority

The reports are collected by Statistics Norway for the Ministry of Children and Families, under the provisions of the Act of 17 July 1992 No. 100 relating to Child Welfare Services section 2-3. Pursuant to the Act of 16 June 1989 No. 54 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway section 2-2, Statistics Norway shall use the reports in the preparation of official statistics.

EEA reference

Not relevant

Production

Population

Not relevant

Data sources and sampling

Not relevant

Collection of data, editing and estimations

KOSTRA form 15 Child Welfare, and a dataset explanation were used as a basis for data registration. The reporting deadline is 15 January the year following the statistical year. For local authorities with a child welfare programme, a file extraction is made, which is sent electronically to Statistics Norway. Until 2013, the local authorities that did not have such a programme submitted electronic forms from Statistics Norway’s website.

In return, the local authorities receive summary tables and error lists for submitted child welfare statistics. They then have to check whether the figures are correct, and report any errors in the submitted data to Statistics Norway. In 2013, the local authorities were asked to review the KOSTRA publications on 15 March and give Statistics Norway feedback on whether the figures were correct, and no error lists were sent out.

KOSTRA form 8 Personnel and organisation of the Child Welfare Services is submitted electronically from Statistics Norway’s website every year, with a deadline of 15 February.

In cases of inter-municipal cooperation, one file/form is to be submitted for each local authority.

The child welfare control program, which is available on Statistics Norway’s website, plays a key role in the regular control and audit routines for the statistics. The local authorities run the control program before submitting child welfare datasets to Statistics Norway, correcting as many errors as possible before submission. In 2013, most of the controls prevented the submission of file extractions and had to be corrected by the local authorities. After receiving a file, Statistics Norway also runs the control program. Preliminary tables with main figures and error lists are sent to the individual local authorities. The Child Welfare Services in the relevant local authority adds the correct information to the error list before returning it to Statistics Norway for revision and production of the figures.

Controls of data on employees are based on a comparison of the figures from the preceding year, and the local authorities are contacted if there are major discrepancies so that they can create or submit a new form where relevant.

Seasonal adjustment

Not relevant

Confidentiality

At municipality and district level, cells in the tables containing three or fewer units are suppressed prior to publishing.

Comparability over time and space

In the period 1980-1985, personal identification numbers were not used in the registration, which made it impossible to control for duplications. Figures from these years are therefore not fully comparable with the preceding and subsequent periods. The figures on children in care in 1992 are assumed to be too high because the 1992 statistics form was designed so that all placements were registered as care placements. There is a break in the 1993 series of new children with measures as a result of a new definition of new children.

In 2002, the child welfare form was changed to include more categories of measures.

A reorganisation in 2007 saw the introduction of more types of measures and information being collected. This means that the child welfare statistics from 2002-2006 are fully comparable.

The main figures for 2007 and subsequent years will be comparable with earlier years in relation to, for example, the number of children with measures, children with care orders, assistance measures, placements and investigations. Also in that year, more options for measure type and reporting body were added. There may therefore be a break in terms of the measure category ‘other measures’ and the category ‘other’ for the reporting body.

There was a further reorganisation in 2013, with the collection of notifications, more categories for content in the notification, minor changes in the categories of who submitted the notification, collection of all investigations – not just one per child, and more types of measures. This means that the child welfare statistics from 2007-2012 are fully comparable. The main figures for 2013 and subsequent years will be comparable with earlier years, i.e. the number of children with measures, children with care orders and assistance measures, the number of children under investigation. There is a break in the investigation cases, but the number of children subject to investigation will still be published.

There are no figures for employees in the municipal child welfare services during the period 1984-1990. In 1992, child welfare was distinguished as a separate service, and the registration of personnel has not changed markedly since then. As of 2012, employees in function 251 Child welfare measures when the child is not placed by the Child Welfare Services were included in form 8 in addition to employees in function 244 Child Welfare Services. This makes it difficult to compare the total number of employees because we assume that those in function 251 were also reported before 2012 by some local authorities. In 2013, employees in function 252 Child welfare measures when the child is placed by the Child Welfare Services were also included in form 8.