Consultants usually in social services for clear staffing

Almost two-thirds of the country’s social services hire consultants to handle staffing, according to a survey conducted by TV4 Nyheterna.
At the same time, new research shows that the social services’ knowledge of vulnerable children risks getting worse when consultants have done the investigations, and that the children have less of a chance to be heard.

Consultants within social services are common, shows TV4 Nyheternas’ survey answered by 201 social services around the country. 62 percent answer that they hire consultants to handle staffing.

– We see that there are fewer conversations that have been carried out in the investigations that the consultants have done, and we see that there are fewer efforts that are given to the children who are investigated by consultants, and to their families, says Ulrika Järkestig-Berggren, associate professor in social work at Linnaeus University.

At many social services, the number of consultants has increased. 29 percent respond that the number of consultants has increased in the past year. In 42 percent of the social services, the number of consultants is unchanged, in 27 percent the number of consultants has decreased in the past year.

This is how the children are affected

The researchers in social work at Linnaeus University and Stockholm University have studied how children in social services are affected when consultants take care of their cases. The study includes material from 2013 onwards. Among other things, 120 childcare investigations have been reviewed. The researchers have also conducted in-depth interviews with managers, employed social workers and consultants.

From the combined conclusions that are now ready, it is clear that, in addition to the fact that there are fewer child talks and efforts for children with consultants, there is also a risk that knowledge about the children will deteriorate when social services use consultants, especially if they work separately from the employed staff. And after a while the consultant may leave the municipality.

– Even if the investigation remains, the common “memory” around families does not remain, and professional learning is also affected, says Ulrika Järkestig-Berggren at Linnaeus University.

According to the researchers, legal certainty for the children risks becoming worse with consultants. But there are ways to counter it.

– Bring the consultants into your own existing operations, so that they work together with existing social workers, so that the knowledge that the consultants bring to the investigations remains in the operations, says Ulrika Järkestig-Berggren, docent in social work at Linnaeus University.