The foster care supervision system is not working

Illustration photo: Killian Cartignies / Unsplash

A new report from Nordland Research Institute reveals serious flaws in the supervision system that is supposed to protect children in foster care.

The report "Boundary setting and use of coercion towards children in foster care" examines how boundary setting and coercion are practiced, understood and experienced by various actors in foster care.

– We see that foster children, foster parents, child welfare employees, supervisors and employees in the state administrator all have different understandings of the difference between setting boundaries and coercion, says Esben Olesen, senior researcher at Nordland Research Institute .

– What one actor perceives as normal child-rearing may appear as coercion to others. Among foster parents, we find that they have different understandings of what is or is not allowed for them to do when setting boundaries.

There is no formal definition of what is considered coercion in Norwegian foster homes. To gain an overview of the use of coercion in foster homes, the researchers have therefore investigated the scope of actions that would be defined as coercion in child welfare institutions. These include actions such as restraint, house arrest or searches of the child's belongings and telephone.

“The results of our research show that coercion in foster care is not uncommon. Yet coercion is a topic that is rarely talked about or included in guidance for foster parents,” says Olesen. 

Defective supervision system

The municipalities are responsible for supervising that the individual child receives proper care in the foster home, and appoint a supervisor who will visit the foster child at least four times a year.

– The supervisor should in principle detect discomfort in the child, for example as a result of unreasonable forms of boundary setting and coercion, says Olesen.

– We have found several examples of this system not working. And the supervision system works worst for those who need it most.

The report shows that the vast majority of foster children have a good and trusting relationship with their foster parents. But those who need the supervision system the most are children who have grown up with widespread distrust of adults. These children are unable to open up to the supervisor and therefore do not talk about their dissatisfaction in the foster home.

– An important finding is that several of the foster children did not understand the system around them and were not aware of their own rights. Several of the young people expressed that they were not aware of the role of the supervisor until the interviewer explained it to them, says Olesen.

– We also conclude that there is probably a serious flaw in the supervision system. Reports that show serious shortcomings in the child's care situation are apparently not systematically sent to the state administrator, as they should be according to the regulations. This weakens the state administrator's ability to investigate whether child welfare has done its duty in cases where foster children are not thriving.

In this film we present children's experiences of problems with coercion and boundary setting in foster care:

Recommend new routines

The report makes a number of recommendations to improve the situation, including increasing foster parents' competence in setting boundaries and coercion, as well as closer guidance and follow-up of foster homes. 

– We also recommend establishing routines that ensure that children and young people in foster homes receive information about their rights and options for complaint, says Olesen. 

Regarding the supervisory system, the researchers recommend a complete revision of the scheme.

– And inspection reports that show serious deficiencies in the child's care situation must be systematically sent to the state administrator, says Olesen. 

Deprives foster children of legal protection

The report also contains a legal assessment of the current legislation, concluding that the legal regulation of boundary setting and coercion cannot be said to satisfy the requirements of human rights and the Constitution.

"The report documents stories about actions in a legal gray area. These actions can be acts of care, lawful coercion or criminal acts. There is no overarching system for documentation, access, complaints or control. It is therefore up to foster parents to determine the legality, necessity and consequences of actions in a complex legal landscape. For foster children, this means an absence of protection against unnecessary, unreasonable or offensive measures. The lack of legal authority does not prevent setting limits and coercion, but deprives foster children of legal certainty," the report states.