64 percent!
Where are the protests from the Danish citizens? It is their tax money which is put to use in a bad way. We are talking of a worn down foster care system where children are exposed of sexual orientated issues by other children every 14 day on average according to recent studies.
The answer is that the Foster system is victimized by trade unions and lobbyist organizations.
When the politicians ordered new treatment measures introduced and they resulted in fewer placements outside the families a massive wave of protests came. First and foremost the workers in the child protective services accused the politicians accused the politicians of neglecting the children just because they wanted to lower the entire budget. This unfounded claim was backed by the organization of group homes and therapeutic boarding schools in Denmark (LOS). Of course they are angry. It did cost them income and some of the group homes are already closed.
This campaign together with a case about a family in Broenderslev who allegedly neglected their children caused the politicians in our parliament over in Copenhagen to create tougher laws. These people who are normally out of touch with the normal population reduced the possibility of public access to case files, so people who are charged with child neglect have less possibility to learn about the case against them and the background of the so-called professional staff who is handling their case.
In the case of the family from Broenderslev no fewer than 3 towns had their child protection services to inspect the family. Two recommended that the children should stay with their parents, the last one in Broenderslev had the case-files on their desks for month not opening them hoping that the family would move on eventually. Still it was the town which had done most which ended up with the bill.
A forth town was also involved. The town of Ringsted had the girl living at one of their group homes and the girl wanted to go to her father and her stepmother. In the law it is required that the child protection services inspect the home before they can send a child home and they did - very thoroughly according to their testimonies.
So no less than 4 different departments oversaw this family and their slightest moves. Still they were able to make a case out of it and now it is damaging all families who are investigated. All parents are regarded as criminals despite the fact that everyone testified the opposite.
In the town of Frederikssund a girl was dragged to a group home because she survived cancer and her parents wanted to make her transition from the hospital to her old life slow and she was behind in school and somewhat truant because she was in the hospital hooked up to various equipment.
Please support families in the Danish foster care system by passing this message on.
Sources (Mostly in Danish):
Undersøgelse viser fejl i sagsbehandling ved anbringelser af børn (Ankestyrelsen)
Seksuelle overgreb på børn og unge på døgninstitution (Servicestyrelsen)
Trial underway in gruesome family abuse case (CphNews)
16-årig tvangsfjernet for "skadelig omsorg" (Sjaellandske Nyheder)