– The challenge of finding foster homes for children from minority backgrounds – Dagsavisen

Solveig Morten Buraas is the unit manager in Bufetat, the district east of the nursery service. She says there are many children awaiting foster care:

– Nationwide, there are 217 children waiting in foster homes. In the Eastern Province, which includes 79 municipalities, 67 children are awaiting foster care.

The ability to sponsor and profit

If you want to become a foster home, it takes an average of three months from the time you start the training process to become a foster home, to completion.

Different children need different foster homes. What all nurseries have in common is that they consist of adults with good nurturing skills and an excess of children. These are the characteristics we find in married, cohabiting, unmarried and homosexual couples, says Solveig Morten Buraas and adds:

– of the children waiting in the nursery, approx. Half a minority background. From experience, it is difficult to find foster homes for these children and they often have baggage that needs more follow-up and care. Among other things, to be able to arrange so that children’s cultural rights, such as religion and language, are protected.

[ Ann Helen måtte i fosterhjem: – Navnet mitt ble ropt opp, men ingen på skolen visste hvor jeg var ]

There are significant differences between municipalities in terms of follow-up and the framework conditions that families receive.

– Solveig Morten Buraas, Unit Manager at Bufetat

What are the requirements to become a nursing home?

– Must meet the general requirements for foster care, including: stable living situation, time and spare time, overall good physical and mental health, good collaboration skills, adequate language skills, secure finances, housing, and a social network, and the child must have his or her own room and must Be well behaved, Boras replies and explains in detail:

– Although there are clear requirements to become an adoptive parent, the public image decides and one can be considered even if not all requirements are met. Who becomes the custodial parent who is considered the child at the end of the process when a suitable family has been found for the individual child.

[ Norge mangler flere hundre fosterhjem – barn står i kø ]

Preventive measures at the individual and family level

– In January 2022, a new childcare reform comes into effect. The municipalities were assigned full responsibility for financing nurseries. Some adoptive parents reacted strongly to this. What challenges did the reform entail?

– We constantly need nurseries and nurseries need to be able to predict, both in the tasks they perform and in the conditions of the framework. At first, nurseries shouldn’t notice much about this change. Before the childcare reform came into force, the municipalities themselves applied for compensation from Bufetat. Now they are given the framework conditions and full responsibility for the financial affairs surrounding the foster home itself. This means more freedom of action, a basis for decision-making, and more stability and predictability, explains Unit Manager Solveig Morten Buraas and adds:

The municipality must ensure good developmental conditions for all children in its municipality. Quality services with a low threshold and comprehensive responsibility for children are important starting points for reform. In this way, the municipality can provide preventive measures, both at the individual and family level. This contributes to reducing the number of children who have to leave their homes. If the child has to move, we work with the municipality. This way, the child can continue to live in their immediate environment, or with someone in their family or network.

– We are now seeing good results by working closely with municipalities that aim to recruit nurseries into families and networks. We have a lot to do here, but we want to share our professional knowledge and experience, so that together we can help the child get good and safe conditions for development.

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More than half of the children for whom the Child Protection Service was responsible for care during 2021 were in the 13-18 year age group.

During 2021, a total of 8,731 children and young people between the ages of 0 and 18 were in the care of the Child Protection Agency, either in foster homes or institutions. This is a 15 percent decrease from 2016.

source: Statistics Norway, Child Welfare

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It is too early to conclude the results of the reform, says Solveig Buraas in Bufetat.

– Foster parents do a colossal job, work for which it is impossible to pay. There are significant differences between municipalities in terms of follow-up and the framework conditions that families receive. We gain experience and it must be valued, whether at the individual, municipal or state level. The financial terms and pension scheme are reviewed to consider any changes. It is important that the conditions of family nurseries and networks are the same as those of regular nurseries.

– The Murphree family, which Dagsavisen wrote about, is a good example of a foster home recruited from family and network. They opened their home when the children of a family member could no longer live with their parents. They are doing very important work in the community and are an inspiration.

[ ADHD og autisme: – Lett å beskrive barnet som en ulydig drittunge ]