New district council and child protection committees abolished
On 12 December, the mayors of Kópavogur, Hafnarfjörður, Garðabær, Mosfellsbær, Seltjarnarnes, Kjósarhreppur and the executive director of SSH signed an agreement on the operation of a joint child protection district board, which will commence operations around the turn of the year. The district board will be composed of three members: a lawyer, who will also serve as the chair, a psychologist and a social worker.
On 12 December, the mayors of Kópavogur, Hafnarfjörður, Garðabær, Mosfellsbær, Seltjarnarnes, Kjósarhreppur and the executive director of SSH signed an agreement on the operation of a joint child protection district board, which will commence operations around the turn of the year. The district board will be composed of three members: a lawyer, who will also serve as the chair, a psychologist and a social worker.
Decision-making power for more serious matters transferred to independent administrative bodies (regional councils)
The municipalities will each be responsible for handling child protection cases, as has been the practice, but the decision-making power in the most serious cases is now transferred to independent administrative bodies, i.e. district boards, whose operations will be separate from the municipalities' child protection services. The district boards will therefore have a defined role, as they will only deal with child protection cases referred to them by the local authority child protection services, when decisions imposing measures must be made by order and consent is not forthcoming. The regional boards will therefore, for example, make decisions on foster care, on whether it is permitted to use measures without the parents' consent when necessary, and will discuss and rule on contact between birth parents and children in foster care.
A new arrangement designed to further ensure professional handling of cases.
At the signing, Regina Ásvaldsdóttir, chairwoman of the Association of Municipalities in the Capital Region, stated that high expectations were placed on this new arrangement, which is designed to further ensure professional handling of cases in this important area. The background to the matter is that, on 1 January 2023, amendments to the Child Protection Act will come into effect, leading to the abolition of child protection committees in their current form. In their place, regional child protection boards will be established. Further information is available from Regína Ásvaldsdóttir, Chair of the SSH Board, on 8581800 and Páll Björgvin Guðmundsson, CEO of SSH, on 8218179.