I am just looking at a Danish report made by some social workers about two kids who have a mother which happened to be victim of a traffic accident which put her in hospital bed for 6 months. She has almost recovered fully and now the problem is the local Department of Social Services.
They have made a report of 20 pages.
They are worried about the kids who had 10 percent absence from school but performed average when tested.
First the daughter aged 11:
A social worker noticed 40 teddy bears in the bed. It is worrying that a girl aged 11 has not moved on to dating and sexting according to the social worker. It indicates that the child remains a state where she acts younger. She also plays with dolls and have friends over which are younger, which is a symptom that the girls seeks control in plays and cannot adjust to friends which are older and hangs out on the streets. It is worrying that the girl has knowledge about the amount of dirty clothes (The mother does the entire laundry but the process between putting the laundry basket and seeing the clothes folded and ready for use in the closet in off child limit according to the social worker). It is also worrying that the girl has been allowed to walk 200 meters to a supermarket buying milk when the family ran out of milk one evening. The girl did tell very proudly about how she was shopping on her own and it is worrying because such responsibility should not be put upon such a young girl.
She has few friends and they are also children who are either younger or similar social isolated from the night life.
The girl is worried about her mother. The reason for her truancy is that she gets ill and produces flu-like symptoms when she "wants" to remain at home. Her temperature was measured and she was quite ill if it had been for real. Her strong will is blamed for the reason of the high temperatures.
Conclusion: The daughter is deeply disturbed and had now been referred to a day treatment facility for further evaluation the next 10 weeks.
Then the son aged 8:
The son also remained at home for 5-10 percent of the time. He is rather isolated as a person. He only plays with the same 3-4 children in school. 5 other children in the after school care. He performs too well academically based on the observation that he continues to do school work even when bells rings and he seems frustrated when the teachers tell him that it is time for break.
A scanning of his stomach has revealed a dark object in his colon. Based on his relationship with his sister his mind must have created the obstruction in his stomach which has resulted in very odd toilet habits.
Conclusion: The son is deeply disturbed and has also been referred to a day treatment facility for further evaluation the next 10 weeks.
Please notice that there has been no referral for a residential treatment for the children alone despite these very serious disturbances according to Danish standards. The social services are considering to have the entire family evaluated 24/7 for 2 months in a residential treatment facility or to monitor the family by video surveillance or a by a social worker in their home 24/7 for several weeks or if the family does not agree with either of these options to move them in local foster care.
A residential treatment facility will cost the local town several thousand of dollars. That’s why all residential treatment in Denmark has been down 20-30 percent since the new structure was introduced. However if they move the children into local foster care, the town can get a grant from the parliament as the department of social services wants to stop residential treatment due to the high costs.
The price of residential treatment is 25 percent higher per child in Denmark compared to Sweden where at-risk kids are sent to Lapland where the cold weather keeps them inside their houses and out of trouble saving cost to staff.
Some might find it odd that a girl who has a problem with collecting teddy bears needs treatment but please notice that Danes have fewer years for childhood compared with children from other country. It is a tradition that they drink alcohol when they are confirmed at age 14. They can legally buy alcohol when they turn 16. They will be cut off socially if they don't start to leave their home and party when they are 11-14. In firms HR consist of two things which works. An employee development meeting every 6 month last between 90 seconds and 4 minutes where a questionnaire has to be filled out and more important participating in a number of social activities in the firms where the employees drink and eat. If the employees cannot cut it, there is always the option of a McJob career or crime.
But please notice that you in a system where the state is paying treatment, the use of various solutions is determined by how every option is financed. When the state gave a massive amount so children could be referred to residential treatment, the use of residential treatment experienced a massive growth. Now where the financing is different, the entire country experience a different approach to residential treatment - even with severe cases like those described above.
Children who have been in placement all their lives are begging to remain at boarding schools or in residential treatment facilities because they are so institionalized that they believe that they cannot function on the outside. But as always - the money talks.
References:
Placement of children and young people in Denmark are much more expensive than in Sweden (Google translated)
Board of Health may limit the country's competitiveness (The HRM blog - Google translated)
Placed children begging for permission to stay (Google translated)
Bears and 12 year olds - is it age-appropriate (blog about another case but also here is the teddy bear issue mentioned. Teddy bears in the early teens is a big no no).
