Child welfare institutions

Child welfare institutions in Norway are operated by the public authorities (Bufetat – the five regional offices under the central authority of the Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs and the local authorities), charitable organisations and other private actors.

 In 2010, 2631 children and young people were placed in child welfare institutions.

Bufetat is responsible for approving private and municipal institutions and for quality assuring all of these institutions. The county governor supervises all the institutions. Bufetat administers and assigns places in institutions on application from the local child welfare services. Special rules for allocating places apply to the city of Oslo.

There are several types of child welfare institutions in Norway and most are for youths:
• Institutions for youths take individuals from 12 to 18 years of age. Some offer short-term stays, while others are designed and planned for longer stays (2–4 years).
• Emergency and examination institutions are for children and youths who are placed on short notice.
• Behavioural institutions are for youths with serious behavioural difficulties.
• There is a MultifunC institution in all Bufetat regions operated by the Child and Family Services. MultifunC is an institutional treatment model followed by supervision in the local neighbourhood for youths with serious behavioural difficulties.
• In 2011, Bufetat established two institutions for treatment of substance abuse. One is in Region West and the other in Region East.

When children and young people live in child welfare institutions, the regulations relating to rights and the use of force during stays in a child welfare institution apply. The regulations were recently revised. They establish the residents' rights and which forced measures and restrictions the institution that may use in their work with the residents.

Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers in reception centres
The central child welfare services must provide all unaccompanied minor asylum seekers under 15 years of age a place to stay in a care centre. The Directorate of Immigration is responsible for providing unaccompanied minor asylum seekers older than 15 years of age with a place in a reception centre for unaccompanied minors or in a segregated section of ordinary reception centre.

The care centre must give the child the necessary care and safety and also ensure that the child receives the supervision and treatment it needs. This means being responsible for supervising the child with respect to school, the health services and so on. The right to a place in a care centre applies until the immigration authorities have made a decision in the asylum case and the child is either settled in a municipality or leaves Norway.

Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers and the Child Welfare Services Act
The Child Welfare Services Act applies to all children in Norway regardless their asylum seeker status and nationality. Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers have, as all other children in Norway, the right to receive services and assistance pursuant to the Child Welfare Services Act. If the child welfare services receive a child-in-jeopardy report about a child who has asylum-seeker status, the report must be acted on according to the same procedures that apply in other child welfare cases.