County Social Welfare Board Decisions in Child Protection Cases (BARN-NEMND) is an infrastructure project whose primary objective is to develop a new database on care order decisions in Norway. The project collects information on approximately 3500 decisions from 1998, 2008, 2018, and 2021. Drawing on research expertise crossing multiple disciplines (political science, law, and psychology), this unprecedented infrastructure will serve as a pillar upon which past and current practice can be assessed and is both a scientific and policy tool that can help shape and improve care order decisions in the future. The BARN-NEMND database will provide information on arguments that underpin care order decisions, remarks made by involved parties (such as the frontline child protection services and parents), case process details, the use of experts and much more. The information will enable longitudinal quantitative analyses as well as serve to corroborate and strengthen current qualitative research projects on issues related to child protection.
The sensitivity of the collected data requires all researchers involved to submit declarations of confidentiality and the database is stored using the University of Bergen’s SAFE platform (Secure access to research data and e-infrastructure), which ensures confidentiality, integrity and availability when processing sensitive personal data. To read more about our commitment to ethical research, click here.
Facts
Project period
2021-2025
Funding
University of Bergen
Ministry of Children and Families
Meltzer Research Fund
ERC CoG Discretion
Research team
Marit Skivenes
Camilla Bernt
Karl Harald Søvig
Barbara Ruiken
Research assistants
Reports
Ruiken, B. (2022) Fylkesnemndenes avgjørelser om omsorgsovertakelser av barn og unge: Kartlegging fra årene 2021, 2018, og 2008. Bergen: Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism, University of Bergen.
Ruiken, Barbara (2022) Fylkesnemndas avgjørelser om institusjonsplasseringer av barn og unge – 2021 og 2018. Bergen: Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism, University of Bergen.
This project has received funding from the University of Bergen under the Research Infrastructure Programme, Ministry of Children and Families, and the Meltzer Research Fund.