Agreement signed on the implementation of divorce counselling

The Minister for Social Affairs and Children, Ásmundur Einar Daðason, and the Mayor of Hafnarfjörður, Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir, yesterday signed an agreement for the town's participation in a pilot project run by the ministry on the implementation of divorce counselling. The City of Hafnarfjörður will therefore, in cooperation with the ministry, implement and develop a new procedure aimed at preventing and/or reducing parental conflict during the divorce process.

The project involves, on the one hand, parents going through a divorce process having access to an e-learning course, and on the other, consultation with a family services specialist. Its aim is to implement and develop a new working method with a focus on social advice in divorce cases.„I am very pleased with the response from local authorities to the newly announced pilot scheme on counselling for parents going through a divorce, something that is of great importance to the children and families who are going through it. The project involves preventative measures for the benefit of children and families, which have been shown to have a positive impact on their mental health and appear to reduce the duration of certain difficulties following a divorce.“said Ásmundur Einar at the signing.".

^{Pictured are Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir, Mayor of Hafnarfjörður, and Ásmundur Einar Daðason, Minister for Social Affairs and Children's Affairs, centre, along with Ágúst Bjarni Garðarsson, Chairman of the Municipal Council, Gyða Hjartardóttir, social worker and specialist in children's affairs at the Metropolitan Police Commissioner's Office, Dr Sigrún Júlíusdóttir, Professor of Social Work at the University of Iceland, and Rannveig Einarsdóttir, Head of the Family and Child Welfare Department for the City of Hafnarfjörður.} 

The project is modelled on the Danish system, but following recent changes to Danish divorce laws, all parents who apply for a divorce and have children under the age of 18 together must now take a course on the effects of divorce on children. According to studies that have been carried out, the practice has already proven very effective, as the mental well-being of parents who have taken the course is noticeably better than that of those who did not during the study period. Furthermore, the course has promoted better parental cooperation and, among other things, has led to parents who have attended it taking significantly fewer sick days from work than they otherwise would have. All of this suggests that a course such as this benefits both parents and their children.

To begin with, this will be a pilot project in the country, in collaboration with several municipalities. Hafnarfjörður is the first of them to sign a formal agreement. If it is successful, consideration will then be given to how the project should be implemented in the future.

„I am very grateful to the City of Hafnarfjörður, which has shown great interest in the project from the outset and a sincere willingness to support it. It is therefore extremely pleasing that the city should be the first local authority in the country to formally implement it.“ said Ásmundur Einar at the signing today. Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir, Mayor of Hafnarfjörður, agrees with the minister's words.. „We have been and want to continue to be a leading local authority in the implementation of new projects, particularly in the field of social welfare. It is exciting to be able to take part in this development project, but it is well known that the consequences of disagreement in a divorce can have a significant impact on the well-being and behaviour of all those involved, and particularly the children. We are a child-friendly community, working in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and with the stated aim of providing particularly good care for children and their families. This project supports that well.“ says Rósa.

More municipalities will begin to implement the new procedure in the coming quarters. The Ministry of Social Affairs will ensure the implementation of the project with regard to the costs of contracts, on the one hand with the Danish company Samarbejde Efter Skilsmisse (SES) and on the other hand with Icelandic specialists who will oversee the project's implementation in Iceland, including translation of material, training and guidance for staff. These are Gyða Hjartardóttir, a social worker, a specialist in children's affairs at the Metropolitan District Commissioner's Office and an adjunct lecturer at the University of Iceland, and Dr Sigrún Júlíusdóttir, Professor of Social Work at the University of Iceland and a family counsellor at the Tengsl Treatment Service.