”Når barnehagepersonalet melder bekymring til barnevernet”.

This study examines cases in the Norwegian "barnevernet" (child welfare service) with the object of identifying special conditions in cases reported by daycare centres (barnehage) and which stand out compared with other cases in the Norwegian child welfare service. Furthermore, the study investigates whether it is possible to identify special conditions in the interplay between daycare centres and the child welfare service which can help explain the small percentage of notifications (reports of concern) from daycare centres.

The demographic characteristics of the 34 cases show that more boys than girls, as well as more children with another cultural background than Norwegian, are the object of concern and more cases concerning these children are reported to the child welfare service. The author concludes that this may be due to negative expectations to the behaviour of these groups; these negative expectations not only affect the children, they also affect the parents. Moreover, the study concludes that employees need to improve their qualifications with regard to their ability to identify vulnerable children. Daycare centres appear to have a barrier in connection with reporting a concern to the child welfare service. This barrier is based on a fear of damaging the relationship with the parents. A significant percentage of parents disagree with or do not realise that their child needs help. The fact that the kindergarten staff only rarely report cases to the child welfare service raises the question of whether daycare centres sufficiently report concerns in grey zone cases. The author concludes that there is a clear potential for more notifications to the child welfare service from daycare centres. At the same time, it is also necessary to focus on the children who are not in daycare, as it is more difficult to discover reasons of concern for these children. In addition, the study concludes that a positive and open dialogue between daycare centres and the child welfare service is particularly important, as they are different with regard to traditions as well as their societal mandate, but they are also inter-dependent in their endeavours to provide a happy childhood for all children.

The empirical data basis for the study is based on data from the Det Nye Barnevernet (DNBV) project (the New Child Welfare Service Project). The study uses cases reported by daycare centres. Data consists of responses to closed as well as open interview questions from 34 respondents (i.e. a total of 34 cases) constituting 4.3% of the total sample. The quantitative responses from the respondents were analysed using simple statistical analyses such as frequency distribution and pivot tables. The qualitative responses were categorised on the basis of the themes identified in the material. The study primarily uses a qualitative approach to data, and information from the DBNV project is supplemented with qualitative interviews with four employees at the child welfare service. The aim here is to gain better insight into child welfare service employees' experience and practice regarding their cooperation with daycare centres. The 34 cases were analysed in relation to data from the total sample from the DNBV project.

Nilsen, A.C.E. (2013) ”Når barnehagepersonalet melder bekymring til barnevernet”. In: Marthinsen E. & Lichtwarck W.; Det Nye Barnevernet: fase I – en antologi. Oslo: Universitetsforlag.