Child welfare group warns over police system failure

Children’s welfare organisation Børns Vilkår is “deeply, deeply concerned” after police paused the issuing of child-safety certificates because previous convictions may have been incorrectly deleted from criminal records, DR reports.

The certificates are required when hiring staff or volunteers who will work with children. They are intended to prevent people convicted of abusing children from being employed in such roles.

“I am deeply, deeply concerned. Of course, there are many things that remain unclear, but it is urgent that this is clarified,” said Rasmus Kjeldahl, director of Børns Vilkår.

The Daycare Institutions National Organisation also said the certificates must be reliable. “We cannot hire people when we are not sure that we can obtain valid child-safety certificates. Therefore, hiring has been put on hold,” said secretary general Tanja Krabbe.

She said the pause could mean that institutions would need to call in more temporary workers until they can hire the permanent staff they need.

About 340,000 child-safety certificates are obtained each year. In 2020, 149 contained remarks, including 24 in the sports sector.

It is legally required to obtain a certificate when hiring a teacher in a primary school, a childcare worker in a kindergarten or a coach working with children or young people in a sports association.

Police Commissioner Lasse Boje said on Thursday that the error was probably limited in scope. However, Kjeldahl said the uncertainty alone was serious.

“I hope this has not had consequences for any children, but potentially it means that paedophiles may have ended up working with children. That is precisely what we have created a system to prevent,” he said.

Kjeldahl stressed that a clean certificate could never be the only safeguard. The certificates only show what has happened in the past, he said, meaning organisations working with children and young people must also have procedures to prevent abuse or grooming in everyday situations.

Krabbe said police had indicated that certificates issued during the past 15 years had been checked and were not affected. She said institutions could therefore feel confident about recent hires, but added that there must never be any doubt about whether the certificates can be trusted.

Police have told the organisations that it could take up to a couple of weeks to fix the error.

The National Police, which is responsible for the Central Criminal Register, acknowledged the problem. “We are very aware that the current pause in issuing child-safety certificates is creating challenges for associations and institutions,” department head Niklas Velling Johansen said in a written response.

“We are doing everything we can to find a solution as quickly as possible so that child-safety certificates can be issued again.”

DR asked the police when a temporary solution would be available and when a permanent solution was expected. The police did not answer either question.