Comparing Fostering in Scotland and Norway with an Emphasis on the Use of Private Actors

Abstract

During the last couple of years the Norwegian media have on several occasions highlighted failings in the Child Welfare Services, and in particular the failure of finding good foster carers for children and young people who need it. An additional discussion has been the use of private actors in the care market, a discussion that to some extent appears to be based on an assumption that private foster carers do not exist. In Scotland the Scottish Government recently approved the new Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009, and have during the last couple of years focused on improving the services for looked-after children and young people. In Scotland the private care market increased from six to 29 independent providers of foster care from 2004 to 2007. Both countries are struggling when it comes to finding enough foster carers. By comparing the two countries’ regulations it could be claimed that Scottish regulations provide a better chance of safeguarding the quality in the work related to looked-after children and young people.

Notes

1. Including both voluntary organisations, commercial actors and any other independent agencies.

2. Norway has a two-tier system of local government: the municipalities/local authorities and the county/regional authorities. There are 430 municipalities and 19 county/regional authorities. Separate from these is the County Governor, the chief representative of King and Government in the county, who works for the implementation of decisions made by Storting (Parliament) and central government.

3. Barne- ungdoms- og familieetaten (the Child–Youth and Family Agency) directly organised under the Ministry of Children and Equality, with five regional offices and about 25 local offices. I will use Agency in singular to refer to Central Administration and “agencies” or “local agency” to refer to the regional offices.

4. The prize came from the regional foster care association and was given to a division of the commercial actor Aleris (Sarpsborg Arbeiderblad, 2008).

5. In force from 28 September 2009. Although these regulations have just come into force, I have chosen to refer to them. The changes are not of such a significant nature that they will alter the essence of this article, and it is important that the legal framework is up to date.

6. Among other things, the Norwegian Board of Health will accordingly:

Contribute to the local authorities meeting a coordinated method of inspection; Contribute to the harmonisation of the County Governors’ expectations of the services; Have the responsibility for the development and upkeep of competence, Collect; collate and impart experiences from inspections and Contribute to the running monitoring of areas liable to failure. (“Delegation letter”, 2009, p. 70)

7. Private actors in Scotland are divided into two groups: the voluntary organisations and the independent agencies. The independent agencies may be commercial (e.g. a limited company), but all fostering agencies have to be non-profit.

8. This is basically a financial matter, which I will not discuss here.

9. The most recent debate took place on TV2 on 8 October 2009 with panel participants from the Ministry, a local authority, a former foster child, and so forth.

10. According to SSI 2009/210, Section 22(6), a decision contrary to the recommendation of the panel must be recorded in writing with the reasons for the decision.

11. The division of labour between local authorities and private agencies should otherwise be specified in their agreement.

12. This is a change from the previous regulations, which stipulated reviews every year, or more often if necessary.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ingvild Sigstad Begg

Mrs Ingvild Sigstad Begg Cand.Jur. is Senior Lecturer at Lillehammer University College