It was during the summer that it was discovered that the children, who were placed through a so-called private placement at the end of 2018, had not had their case followed up even once. If it had all gone right, a report would have been submitted to the social welfare board every six months.
Therefore, the municipality has now registered itself with the Inspectorate for Care and Care, Ivo, according to the Lex Sarah provision.
– We have failed to follow up these children in the way that should be done according to law, says Lindha Höglund.
The case was deleted from the system
According to Lindha Höglund, the reason that it took so long to discover the mistake is that the case was no longer in the municipality’s system for an unclear reason. This despite the fact that such a case must not be closed until the children turn 18.
– It is unfortunate that the case has been closed in the system, otherwise subsequent staff and managers would have seen it and then we would have been able to act earlier, says Lindha Höglund.
After the error was discovered, new investigations were started regarding the children and their location. Other private placements have also been reviewed to see if there were more cases that have been forgotten, but nothing of the sort has been found.
Several measures taken
When the social administration had conversations with the children after the discovery, it emerged that they are doing well, have a functioning schooling and that their needs have been met.
During the autumn, training in handling and documentation is also planned for all relevant staff, while the municipality has reviewed and updated its routines for private placements in particular.
– We see no risk that something like this could happen again. We have previously done a reorganization where we have fewer employees per manager, and then we think that there are good conditions for the manager to follow each employee and their matters.