Eyðublöð og leiðbeiningar (Enska)

Instructions for the integration of services in the interest of children's prosperity

 If a service provider, or a person who provides general services in the interest of a child's prosperity, notices and identifies indications that the child's needs are not being adequately met and that the child needs additional services than are already being provided, they must provide the parents and/or the child with instructions on the integration of services.

Providing information about services in the interest of a child's prosperity is also one of the Coordinator's roles.

When a service provider, a person who provides general services in the interests of children's prosperity, the Coordinator or others must provide instructions on the integration of services, the following information must be provided:

What are integrated services? Organized and continuous services with the aim of promoting a child's prosperity, and that children and parents in need have access to appropriate integrated services and assistance in managing the services.

Who provides integrated services? The service providers who are best suited to meet a child's needs at all times.

What is a service provider? Anyone who provides prosperity services on behalf of the state or municipality, including private parties who provide such services on the basis of a service contract. These are, e.g. preschools, elementary schools, after-school centers, community centers, secondary schools, health care centers, specialized health services, police, social services and child protection.

What are prosperity services? All services that the law says should be provided by the state or municipal authorities and that contribute to or ensure the prosperity of a child. This ranges from basic services that are accessible to all children to more individualized services.

What is the first step? The first step is for the Coordinator to get information about the child's circumstances. A service provider who notices and identifies signs that a child's needs are not being adequately met, can talk to the parents and guide them and help them fill out a request for the sharing of information with a Coordinator. This means that the respective service provider has the authority to inform the Coordinator about the circumstances. A Coordinator can also receive information directly from the parents and/or the child, as everyone should know who their Coordinator or their child's Coordinator is, and have access to that person.

What is a Coordinator? A person in a child's immediate environment who receives information from service providers, those who provide general services in the interest of children's prosperity or the parents/child. The Coordinator supports the integration of services at the primary level. The Coordinator enables parents and children to look to one person who has an overview of services instead of having to go to many different places to seek out such information.

What is an information sharing request? A form that a parent and/or child fills out that allows a service provider or those who provide general services in the interest of a child's prosperity, to compile information about a child's circumstances and pass it on to a Coordinator. The request only authorizes this specific sharing with this specific Coordinator. The Coordinator is not authorized to contact others once they have received the information, but the Coordinator must contact the parents and/or child.

What is the next step? The next step is for the Coordinator to process the information. The Coordinator talks to the parents and/or child and assesses whether there is a need for integration of services. The Coordinator is only authorized to view the information they have received from this one service provider and must then contact the parents and/or child.

- If the Coordinator believes that the child is getting all the services they need and does not need integration, the Coordinator still continues to assist the family and re-evaluates later whether integration is needed.

- If the Coordinator believes that the integration of services is in the child's best interests, they guide the parents and/or the child in what the integration of services entails and instructs about the request for integration of services.

What is a service integration request? There is a form that parents and/or child fill out requesting that services for the child be integrated. The request allows Coordinators, Case Managers, service providers and those who provide services in the interests of a child's prosperity to process information about the child in order to ensure an organized and continuous service.

What is a Case Manager? The Case Manager takes over from the Coordinator if a child needs services at the secondary or tertiary level. The Case Manager usually comes from social services.

What is the primary, secondary and tertiary level of service?

- The primary level of service is twofold. A Coordinator manages the integration of services at this level.

Basic services that are accessible to all – for example, general services of preschools, primary and secondary schools, including general education, prevention and practices against bullying and violence, etc. General health care, pregnancy monitoring, birthing courses and general social services, for example daycare services, are also basic services.

· Personalized and early assistance. Resources that respond to the need for services beyond basic services. These include additional assistance or support, for example when a child has a limited need for school services due to special needs, learning disabilities, behavioral problems or the consequences of bullying, etc.

- Secondary services are resources where individual and more targeted assistance is provided than at the primary level. These are resources where a more specialized or diverse service is needed than is provided at the primary level. Children, who are covered by services at this level, need more specialized and diverse services. Here, assistance for a child has become so extensive that it is likely that the child's needs will not be met unless services are integrated. Examples of such services are various support services provided by municipal social and school services, special departments or vocational lines in schools.

- Tertiary services are resources where specialized assistance is provided to safeguard instances where a child's prosperity could be endangered. A child who receives services at this level usually has a complex and multifaceted problem and a high need for care. The child is then in a situation where the lack of appropriate assistance and resources can have serious consequences and threaten the child's health and development. Examples of tertiary services are various placement options based on the Child Protection Act, multidisciplinary support for disabled children and long-term hospital stays for children.

Can a child receive services at more than one level at a time? Yes.

How do all these parties handle a child's personal information? Everyone who works on the basis of the Act on the Integration of Services in the Interest of Children's Prosperity must process personal information in accordance with the Data Protection Act. Personal information is also processed in accordance with the criteria for the processing of personal data based on the Act, which will be issued by the Ministry of Children and Education. This means that everyone who processes personal information has an obligation to only process information for which there is a legitimate purpose for processing, to process only the information that is needed and to share it only with those who are authorized. The security of the personal information must be considered in all respects.

The service provider, the person who provides general services in the interest of children's prosperity, Coordinators, Case Managers, and others who process personal information based on the Prosperity Act, must inform the parents and/or the child how the sharing of personal information takes place in that individual case. Information must be given on which information will be shared and where, and which security measures will be taken, in order to protect the security of the personal information.