Det gjør livet litt lettere: Gruppetilbud til foreldre med barn i fosterhjem og barnevernsinstitusjon: Kartlegging, beskrivelse og evaluering

Abstract

This report has been prepared on behalf of The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir), and focuses on groups for parents who have children in a foster home or in residential care under the auspices of child welfare. The assigned task was to map out (follow-up) groups offered to the target group and to gain experience with groups from group leaders and parents who have participated. The project was carried out as a collaboration between researchers from the University of Stavanger (UIS) and VID Special University (VID), with project management from UIS. The report sets out findings from both the mapping work and qualitative interviews with leaders/ coordinators of various groups in Norway, as well as focus group interviews with parents who have participated in such groups. We have been in contact with the Family Counselling services in Norway, as well as a number of child welfare services. In addition, a small survey was sent out to 77 leaders of Child Welfare Services. All together, we have collected experiences from 21 actors who have or have had groups for the target group, and we have conducted six focus group interviews with parents who have participant experiences from such groups. The findings show that groups for parents who have children in out-of-home care exists in 10 counties in Norway, of which seven are run by Family Counselling Services. Other actors are the Child Welfare Services, as well as non-profit organizations and interest organizations. The existing groups are organized differently, from being loose and unstructured (drop-in) where meeting other parents in the same situation is the primary purpose, to more structured groups where specific program developed for specific purposes are followed (such as PRIDE; ICDP; EFFT). Experiences from both group leaders and parents suggest that groups are important for parents who have lost the care of their children. Meeting others in the same situation has been emphasized as particularly important as many feel strongly stigmatized after losing care for children. Furthermore, groups that have a certain structure seem to help parents to develop more appropriate strategies with regard to the relationship with their children, and cooperation with foster parents and Child Welfare Services. Some groups have found it difficult to recruit a sufficient number of parents. That said, some groups do not seem to have major recruitment challenges, and establishment of linkpersons seem to be beneficial for that purpose. It is also a matter of location, as some of these are located in areas that are more central. It proves particularly challenging when the group is to cover larger geographic areas, because it costs more for parents to participate both in terms of time and transport. Moreover, the study shows that those who run the groups have a great commitment to the task – and this is also emphasized as important by the parents. It is also important that the groups are rooted in the organization they are run by, in order to not be too dependent on the individual group leader. Finally, the study shows that the intention of offering nationwide group-provisions to the target group is difficult to accommodate, and actions are necessary to lay grounds for more parents to have access to such groups. Efforts to strengthen participation between services to ensure recruitment, clarifying mandates and anchoring the group-provision in the different services are needed, as well as measures that can make it easier for parents to participate with regard to flexible supportschemes.