The Norwegian Child Welfare Services (, literally "child protection") is the public agency responsible for child welfare in Norway. They consist of services in each municipality, which are aided and supervised by different governmental bodies at the state as well as the county level.
The Child Welfare Services’ statutory obligation is "to ensure that children and youth who live in conditions that may be detrimental to their health and development receive the necessary assistance and care at the right time." Roughly 3% of all children in Norway receive some sort of measure from the Child Welfare Services, most of them in the form of relief measures to the child and its parents (such as counselling, advice, external support contacts, access to day care etc.). In about one quarter of the cases, the children are placed outside their homes (mainly in foster families or institutions) after care orders.
Organisation
The Norwegian Child Welfare Services were established and regulated under the terms of the Child Welfare Act of 1992, which has the purpose "to ensure that children and youth who live in conditions that may be detrimental to their health and development receive the necessary assistance and care at the right time," and "to help ensure children and youth grow up in a secure environment".
The Ministry of Children and Equality (Norwegian Barne- og likestillingsdepartementet, abbreviated BLD) holds the chief jurisdiction over child welfare issues and is responsible for developing regulations and guidelines, but is not involved in individual cases.
Each of the Norwegian municipality is obliged to have Child Welfare Services. These are responsible for the local and year-to-year implementation of the Child Welfare Act (such as preventive work, investigation, support service, approval of foster families, follow-up of children placed in foster families or institutions). This "municipal child welfare" is aided by two agencies that constitute the "governmental child welfare": The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Norwegian Barne-, ungdoms- og familiedirektoratet, abbreviated Bufdir) is a governmental body responsible for the "theoretical" aspects of child welfare (interpretation of the law and commissioning and dissemination of research). The Office for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Norwegian Barne-, ungdoms- og familieetaten, abbreviated Bufetat) is a governmental body responsible for the "practical" aspects of child welfare (approval and management of child welfare institutions, recruitment and training of foster families).
In addition, the following bodies at the county level are involved in child welfare: The County Social Welfare Boards (Norwegian Fylkesnemnda for barnevern og sosiale saker) function as tribunals that have to approve of any compulsory measures and care orders (i.e., decisions that parents lose custody of their child). It has an autonomous position in relation to the Ministry and the County Governor. The County Governors, representing the governmental authority at the county level, supervise the activities of the municipalities and child welfare institutions and handle appeals.
Support and assistance
The Child Welfare Services are responsible for implementing measures for children and their families in situations where there are special needs in relation to the home environment. Assistance may be provided as counselling, advisory services, and aid measures, including external support contacts, relief measures in the home, and access to day care.
Under the guidelines of the Norwegian Child Welfare Services, children are entitled to participate in decisions involving their personal welfare, and have the right to state their views in accordance with their age and level of maturity. This applies especially in cases where there are administrative and legal proceedings that will strongly affect the children's day-to-day lives.
Duties
The Child Welfare Services are required to take action if measures implemented in the home environment are not sufficient to safeguard the child's needs. In such cases, the Child Welfare Service may place children under foster care in consultation with the parents, in a child welfare institution, or introduce specific parent–child measures.