Apr 7, 2025
Assistance Measures in Child Welfare – Voluntary and Mandatory Measures for Children and Families
Assistance measures constitute the main part of the child welfare's work. By the end of 2021, nearly 83 percent of all child welfare measures initiated were assistance measures, and the percentage has increased in recent years. This article reviews the different types of assistance measures that child welfare can offer and implement, both voluntary and mandatory.
Voluntary assistance measures at home
The child welfare service must offer and implement assistance measures for the child and the parents when the child, due to their care situation or behavior, has a special need for help. By "special need," it means that the child must have a need beyond what is usual for children.
The special need for help must be related to the child's care situation or behavior. Issues related to the care situation may involve illness in the family, that the family is new to the country, family conflicts, substance abuse issues, or poor living conditions. For the child welfare service to implement voluntary assistance measures, parental consent is required.
The law does not specify which voluntary assistance measures can be implemented but emphasizes that the assistance measures should be suitable to meet the needs of the child and the parents and to contribute to positive change for the child or in the family. Some commonly used measures include:
Advice and guidance
Relief care
Kindergarten placement or after-school care
Support for leisure activities
Support contact
Measures to strengthen parenting skills
Financial support directed at the child
Financial support as an assistance measure must be directly aimed at the child and should not replace benefits under the Social Services Act in the labor and welfare administration. For example, support may be given for purchasing equipment for leisure activities, for paying membership fees, or for holiday stays.
Voluntary placement outside the home
As an assistance measure, the child welfare service can also offer placement in foster families, institutions, or care centers for minors. The condition is that the requirements according to § 3-1 first paragraph are met, and that the needs cannot be resolved by other assistance measures, allowing the child to stay with the parents.
Such placement may be relevant if the parents are temporarily unable to provide actual care for the child, for instance due to illness, temporary substance abuse problems, short-term imprisonment, or travel absence.
Placement as an assistance measure requires parental consent, and they retain formal care for the child. They decide on visitation questions and are generally free to decide if and when the child should return home.
If it is assumed that the parents cannot provide proper care for the child for an extended period, the child welfare service must assess whether a care order case should be initiated immediately.
Imposition of assistance measures
In principle, assistance measures are voluntary, but in some cases, the child welfare and health board can impose assistance measures. For the board to impose assistance measures, the conditions pursuant to § 3-1 must be met, and the imposition must additionally be necessary to ensure the child receives satisfactory care or protection.
Mandatory assistance measures at home
The board can impose three types of assistance measures at home:
Care-changing measures at home: Various types of parenting guidance or parental support measures intended to help parents provide care in a way that promotes positive development in the child. These measures should be based on a generally accepted knowledge base.
Day offer outside the home: Placement in kindergarten or other suitable day offers, visitation homes, respite measures, homework help, leisure activities, support contact, or similar measures.
Control measures: Supervision, reporting obligations, and substance testing using biological material.
Placement in centers for parents and children
The board can also make decisions about assistance measures in centers for parents and children for children aged 0-6 years without the consent of the private parties. In addition to the conditions for other mandatory assistance measures, there must be an imminent risk that the child may end up in a situation where the conditions for a care order are met.
The placement in such a center will include both the child and the parents, and they will not be separated as would be the case in a care order.
Parental support measures without the child's consent in case of behavioral issues
The child welfare and health board can impose parental support measures without the child's consent when the child has shown serious behavioral issues or is in the process of developing such behavior. The threshold is lower than for coercive measures pursuant to § 6-2, since measures can also be implemented at an earlier stage when behavioral issues are developing.
For such measures to be relevant, it is required that the parents are positively inclined to receive assistance and wish to cooperate. Parental support measures without the child's consent cannot be maintained for more than six months after the board's decision was made.
Medical examination and treatment
The child welfare and health board can decide that a child should be examined by a doctor or at a hospital, or that the child should be treated for an illness, at home or in a hospital, when there is reason to believe that the child suffers from a life-threatening or other serious illness or injury, and the parents fail to ensure that the child receives examination or treatment.
This provision authorizes examinations and treatments conducted by health personnel, both at home, with a doctor, and in hospitals. This can include traditional examinations, X-ray treatments, medication, and surgical procedures.
Treatment and education of children with special needs
The child welfare and health board can decide that children with disabilities or children who are particularly in need of assistance should receive treatment or education with support from the child welfare service.
This provision ensures special measures when the parents do not sufficiently meet the child's needs, for example, because they do not realize the child has special educational or treatment needs, or due to distrust of experts are unwilling to participate in necessary measures.
Follow-up of assistance measures
The child welfare service has a duty to follow up on how things progress with both the child and the parents. The child welfare service must systematically and regularly assess whether the help is working as intended, if there is a need for new measures, or if there are grounds for a care order.
When the child welfare service makes decisions about assistance measures, it must create a plan for the measures and for the follow-up of the child and the parents. The plan should describe the goal of the assistance measures, what they should include, and how long they are intended to last.
Assistance measures for youths over 18 years
Measures that were initiated before a youth reaches the age of 18 should be continued or replaced by other measures if the youth consents and needs help or support from the child welfare service for a good transition into adulthood.
To ensure that the child welfare service makes responsible assessments of the need, it has been given the duty to contact the youth to assess whether measures should be continued or replaced by other measures. This should be done well before the youth turns 18. Measures can be implemented until the youth turns 25.
Conclusion
Assistance measures are the child welfare's first choice and constitute by far the largest part of the child welfare's work. Through various types of assistance measures, both voluntary and mandatory, child welfare can assist families and children with special needs without resorting to more intrusive measures such as care orders. The assistance measures should be suitable to meet the needs of the child and the parents and contribute to positive change in the child or in the family.
