Child protection
The aim of child protection is, first and foremost, to provide assistance to children and families.
The role of child protection
The Child Protection Act states that children living in unacceptable conditions, or those whose health and development are at risk, are to be assisted. Child Protection in Hafnarfjörður does this by supporting families in their parenting role and protecting individual children where appropriate.
Emphasis is placed on collaboration with parents and children. The child's welfare is always the priority. Children are consulted, according to their age and maturity.
The tasks of child protection are:
- Handling of cases under the Child Protection Act
- Social work for families and child protection
- Reports in adoption cases
- Assessments of foster families and support families
- Children's summer holiday
- preventive work
Child protection does not deal with cases concerning contact or custody disputes. These are handled by sheriff.
Reporting to child protection
If you believe a child is being abused or neglected, you should inform social services. Anyone under the age of 18 is considered a child, including unborn children.
A referral to the child protection committee is not a complaint but a request for assistance for the child or family in question, whom the referrer believes is in need of help. It is best to Report electronically to Children's Services in Hafnarfjörður, but you can also call the Children's Services telephone duty on 585 5500 from 13:00 to 16:00 every weekday, except until 14:00 on Fridays.
In urgent cases during office hours, it is best to call the child protection on-call service on 585 5500. Outside office hours, you should contact 112 by phone or via chat.
You will need to give your name when you make a report, but you can always request anonymity from everyone except the child protection services. Children can also contact us themselves.
English / Polish
What to declare?
It's alright to report it, even if you're not entirely sure. Children should always be protected.
- Neglect.
- Physical, mental or sexual violence.
- Young children left alone or in the care of other children.
- Older children left alone for long periods.
- Poor school attendance.
- Repeat offenders.
- Violent behaviour.
- Depression, mental health problems, suicidal thoughts.
- Medical assistance not provided despite need.
- Repeated injuries that a child finds difficult to explain.
- Abnormal outdoor activity and repeated breaches of the outdoor activity rules.
- Parental incapacity, for example due to substance misuse or illness.
- Alcohol and drug use among adolescents.
What happens after notification?
When a notification is received, the child protection service decides whether the matter will be investigated further. That decision is based on the information provided by the person making the notification and on any previous involvement by the child protection service.
Parents are always informed that a report has been received and what decision has been made regarding the involvement of social services. In certain circumstances, it is possible to speak to the child without informing the parents first, for example when there is suspicion of abuse by the parents.
If child protection considers it necessary to investigate the matter further, information about the family's circumstances is obtained from the parents and people from the immediate community.
An investigation can end in two ways:
- No further involvement from child protection is considered necessary. The case is then closed with a formal letter to the parents.
- It is considered necessary to involve child protection services further. A plan for handling the case is then drawn up in consultation with the parents. Children aged 15 and over take part in shaping the plan.
To protect the confidentiality of the person being notified, the notifier will not be given information about the next steps of the case.
Resources
On the Lifeline website, you can find various information about Children's welfare, violence against children and educational material for children and teenagers.
Various resources are available to help when problems arise. They can be found both on Resources page 112.is and with the resource search engine One life. It is also possible to familiarise oneself with various Resources provided by Hafnarfjörður as part of children's welfare legislation.
All enquiries are welcome at the email address. barnavernd@hafnarfjordur.is.