Welfare leaders blame state for crisis in child placements

Municipalities turned to private providers for children with complex needs because the state failed to ensure enough specialised treatment options, the board of Velferð, an association of managers in municipal welfare services, said in a statement reported by mbl.is.

The association was responding to Kveik, a current-affairs programme, which reported on conditions for children in privately run residential and placement services. Velferð said the accounts of inadequate conditions, use of force and a shortage of qualified staff were unacceptable.

The board said public discussion had focused on municipalities and oversight bodies without addressing the root cause. In its view, private services emerged not from a municipal policy of privatisation but from an emergency created when the state closed specialised treatment homes without establishing replacements.

Velferð said Stuðlar, a service that provides emergency placements and assessments under the law, could not serve as a long-term option for children with complex needs. The association cited Article 79 of the Child Protection Act, which sets out the state’s duty to operate specialised treatment homes and institutions, and said such services had been lacking for years.

Municipal child protection services are responsible for monitoring children’s welfare and living conditions in placements, speaking regularly with the children and their families, and acting if conditions are unacceptable. Oversight of operating licences is the statutory responsibility of the Welfare Quality and Supervision Authority, the association said. It added that suitable treatment options must be available when inspections uncover serious failings.

The board welcomed plans for the state to take over the operation of specialised services for children with complex support needs, but said adequate facilities, safe staffing and a professional working environment must be in place first. It called on central and local government to stop passing responsibility between institutions and work together to build a safe child protection system that puts children’s rights and welfare first.