AA15CR15ADD1

AS (2015) CR 15
Addendum 1

2015 ORDINARY SESSION

________________________

(Second part)

REPORT

Fifteenth sitting

Wednesday, 22 April 2015 at 4.30 p.m.

Debate on social services in Europe

The following texts were submitted for inclusion in the official report by members who were present in the Chamber but were prevented by lack of time from delivering them.

Ms ÅBERG (Sweden) – The act of removing children from their families is a very complicated one, as it is a major intervention in the life of the parents and the children.

Often, the children’s and parents’ interests are conflicting. Hence, in Sweden, when making decisions on care or treatment interventions concerning children, there is a statutory obligation to consider what is best for the child as the deciding factor.

In Sweden, there are two laws that regulate the placing of children; the first one is when it happens with parental consent, and the second one is when there is no parental consent. When the situation is not immediately dangerous for the child, voluntary procedures for the family should be favoured. Only after having tried to give voluntarily help, without results, should custodial care be considered. The initial decision is taken by a politically assigned committee, but needs approval from a court of law. Both the child and parents are each assigned a legal attorney who defends their respective interests. It is possible to appeal to a higher court if the child, the parents or the social services are dissatisfied with the decision. During the placement, the child is under the responsibility of, and followed closely by a designated social worker. Every six months, an evaluation is made to see whether the goal of caregiving is fulfilled, or whether the child should move home.

I agree with the rapporteur’s conclusion that social workers who handle these cases require proper training and experience. It has been a significant problem in Sweden that freshly graduated, and usually young people have been made to handle the most complicated of cases. Decisions regarding people in a vulnerable situation need to be taken by competent professionals with good working conditions and enough time to conduct social investigations, judgments and decisions of high quality. Since July 2014, the law requires those who conduct child care investigations to acquire a certain level of education and skills.

Sometimes, it is in the best interests of the child to be put in a long-term or permanent fostering placement – for instance, in cases where the parents have a major mental disability or suffer from severe drug abuse. Today, these children are primarily put in foster homes, and it is not unusual for a child to have to move between several different foster homes while they are growing up; it is not the best solution for the child to have to move between different foster parents, schools and friends. We consider that, in cases of long-term or permanent fostering placement, the subject of adoption should be brought up more often. Adoption could be of great benefit to a child who needs stability and security, which is why we deem that the matter of adoption should be evoked more frequently, especially with regard to young children.