Professionalised, hybrid, and layperson models in Nordic child protection - actors in decision-making in out of home placements

Figures & data

Table 1. Decision-making systems for child welfare. Actors given the formal authority to decide on out-of-home placements with and without consent and their organizational habitats.

Out-of-home placements	Sweden	Norway	Denmark	Finland
With consent	Laypersons at local Child Protection Boards^a	Head of child protection	Varies, often delegated to professionals Two judges and two laypersons in the appeals court^b	Head of child protection or appointed professional
Without consent	One judge, three laypersons in the administrative courts	One judge, one expert on children, one layperson on the county social welfare boards	One judge, two experts on children, two laypersons on municipal boards for child protection Two judges and two laypersons in the appeals court^b	Two judges, one expert on children in the administrative courts

^aDecisions about out-of-home placements are in some specific cases possible to delegate to professional social workers if the decisions are made with consent from the parents and children over the age of 15

^bThe vote of the chairman (one of the judges) decides at times of disagreement. The appeals court in Denmark has a special position in that it can change decisions made by professionals and municipal boards, but it is also given the authority to make decisions on its own in individual cases. For further information, see for example (Hultman, Forkby and Höjer, 20172017).

Table 2. Children placed out of the home in the compared countries.

	Year	Children placed out of the home/1,000 children	Involuntary care of all children in care	Voluntary care of all children in care
Sweden^a	2012	8.2	26%	74%
Norway^a	2013	10.1	71%	29%
Finland^a	2012	9.6	19%	81%
Denmark	2011	9.3^b	15%^c	85%^c

^aBurns, Pösö, and Skivenes (2016)

^bSocialstyrelsen (2017b) Socialanalyse nr 2. Anbragte børn og unge Udvikling i antal og udgifter over tid. Odense: Socialstyrelsen. (0–22 år)

^cAnkestyrelsens statistikker. Anbringelsesstatistik. Årsstatistik (2011). (0–17 år)

Hultman, E., T. Forkby., and S. Höjer. 2017. Mot bättre beslut? Lekmän och experter som beslutsfattare inom den sociala barnavården- en nordisk jämförelse. [Towards better decisions? Laypersons and experts as decision-makers in child protection- a comparision between Nordic countries]. Stockholm: Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting.

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Burns, K., T. Pösö, and M. Skivenes, eds. 2016. Child Welfare Removals by the State. A Cross-Country Analysis of Decision-Making Systems. New York, NY: Oxford university press.

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Socialstyrelsen. 2017b. Anbragte Børn Og Unge. Udvikling I Antal Og Udgifter over Tid. [Children and Youth in Care. Development in Numbers and Expenses over time]Socialanalyse Nr 2. Odense: Socialstyrelsen.

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