Published 27 August 2024 at 08.43
Domestic. Several HVB homes are run by organized and family-based crime and have criminal network individuals among their employees. This is evident from the mapping of SiS and HVB homes that the police carried out in 2023.
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Between January and November last year, the police carried out a search of the homes run by the State Board of Institutions (SiS) and the often privately owned homes for care or accommodation (HVB).
A total of 2,865 escapes and deviations came to the attention of the police. In connection with this, it also emerged that the majority of HVB homes are run by organized crime and staffed by people from criminal networks.
– Revoking children's basic rights to free movement and then placing them in facilities that not only lack proper care programs but are even run by serious criminals is extremely serious. This risks causing some children to come out in a worse condition than they were in when they were placed at HVB. It is a failure for the entire care of the child that children who in several cases have been cared for by authorities are still allowed to deviate during ongoing care and commit serious violent crimes such as murder. The crimes can have lifelong consequences, not only for the perpetrator but above all for the victims. It is, by definition, poor care of young people's antisocial behaviour, says Peter Allheim, commissioner at Noa.
Children and young people who run away from SiS homes or deviate from HVB homes also create resource-demanding problems for the police.
– Out of 100 deviations from children with antisocial behavior, 10 result in the child committing a new serious crime. On behalf of the police, we return a great many children, a large proportion of whom come from HVB homes. In addition, we invest large resources in investigative work and preventing planned crimes. This is a significant operational burden, and for us it is about how we use our resources, says Peter Allheim on the police's website.
The police agency's report “Review of SIS and HVB homes” is based on a previously classified intelligence report, and aims to analyze and raise awareness of the situation at the SiS and HVB homes. The goal of publishing the report is to obtain a document that all relevant authorities and social actors can gather around to see the problem picture and be able to take measures.
– Nothing can be solved until we start talking about it. The situation is serious, but it can also be turned around through a number of measures and cooperation between authorities. We have a collaboration with the government's special investigator in children and youth issues, where we report our picture of reality. We have also established a special contact number for us at the police for everyone who works at SiS, Social Services and HVB homes. So far we have received over 500 calls. The problems we are now seeing can be reduced with cooperation, but changes to the law will also be needed, for example around confidentiality, says Peter Allheim.
Peter Allheim emphasizes that even though the police have discovered many cases where criminals have established themselves in the treatment care of vulnerable children and young people, it does not apply to all HVB homes.
– There are many real heroes within the municipalities and HVB homes who do absolutely fantastic work. But the police have a social responsibility to inform about the sometimes non-existent examination of the personnel employed, as well as the shortcomings in, for example, control systems and supervision.
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