Foster parents say emergency placements lack proper oversight

Children in emergency placements are not receiving adequate oversight, the Foster Parents’ Association says, warning that their rights are being overlooked. The association estimates that nearly 100 children are in such placements under child protection services, mbl.is reports.

Under child protection law, an emergency placement should last no longer than three months. But some children have remained in emergency care for as long as eight years, the report says. The Welfare Quality and Supervisory Authority knew of such cases but did not take specific action, according to the association.

The association says its intervention helped move one child’s case into the proper process. It is calling for improvements, including better oversight by state agencies and guarantees of the rights of all children placed by child protection services.

The authority carried out an inquiry into child protection services’ oversight of children in foster care after the Bakkakot case. A report published in July covered 436 people, including 374 children in 290 foster homes. But it left out many children whom municipalities classified as being in emergency placements, even though they had been in care for much longer.

The Foster Parents’ Association has asked the authority and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing to explain the omissions, saying the report does not give an accurate picture of foster care in Iceland.

“Municipalities are numerous, and they handle emergency placements in different ways. The most serious case involved a child being placed in emergency care for eight years,” association chairman Guðlaugur Kristmundsson told mbl.is. He said the child is no longer in that situation because of the association’s intervention, and would otherwise still be in emergency care.

The association says it has repeatedly raised concerns with municipalities it considers especially poor at handling emergency placements. Such placements may be used after a parent’s sudden illness or death, to protect a child, assess their needs or investigate concerns about neglect, parental capacity or inadequate home conditions. If a child needs to remain away from home for more than three months, the placement should be changed to foster care, which provides children and foster parents with additional rights, support and oversight.