Municipalities still unable to obtain child safety certificates

Municipalities across Denmark still cannot obtain legally required child safety certificates, more than a week after a deletion error in the national criminal register halted their issuance, DR reported.

The suspension affects nurseries, kindergartens, schools, after-school programmes and other organisations that need the certificates when hiring staff.

Jakob Næsager, Copenhagen’s children and youth mayor, said the situation was becoming increasingly critical with each passing week.

“We cannot sign employment contracts until the child safety certificates have been obtained,” he said.

Copenhagen is currently hiring more staff for its childcare institutions after funding was allocated in the national budget to increase the number of adults per child. Næsager said the expansion would be delayed because the new employees could not yet be hired.

The situation could become particularly serious if it is not resolved by the end of the month. Employees moving from other workplaces may need to give notice, which could cause a further month’s delay, he said.

The timing is also difficult because many young people working as childcare assistants during gap years leave around 1 September to begin their studies. Copenhagen is currently relying on temporary staff already employed by the municipality, but Næsager said there were limits to how long they could continue doing so.

Aarhus Municipality also said the suspension was disrupting operations and was taking up significant resources. Employees transferring between positions within the municipality are not affected because their existing certificates remain valid, unless they have been informed of a change.

No estimate for resumption

The Danish National Police announced on 3 September that the issuance of child safety certificates had been suspended after information was found to have been deleted from the criminal register. The police confirmed on Thursday evening that the suspension remained in place.

Ritzau asked the police on Friday when certificates might become available again, but had not received a response.

The police said on Thursday that the deletion error affected fewer offence codes than initially thought. The police use offence codes to record different violations of the law.

The Police Administrative Centre has reviewed the affected decisions and identified one child safety certificate issued in 2015 that should have included a decision which was mistakenly deleted too early.

The police contacted the organisation that requested the certificate. It said the person had not worked for the organisation since around 2018 and had not been charged with or convicted of criminal offences since the certificate was issued.

It is legally required to obtain a child safety certificate when hiring a primary school teacher, a kindergarten educator or a children’s or youth sports coach. DR reported that around 340,000 such certificates are obtained annually nationwide, while the Danish National Police separately estimates the annual figure at approximately 450,000.

In 2020, 149 certificates contained remarks, including 24 issued in the sports sector. Each year, around four to seven cases are referred to the Exclusion Board when organisations seek to hire or engage someone despite remarks on their certificate.