Children’s institutions, 1999

In institutions for parents and children (maternity homes), which were the least expensive, a place cost NOK 592,000. By comparison, the price in the childrens and youths homes, where about half of the places are located, came to NOK 880,000 per year on the average. At the close of 1999, a total of 177 institutions were registered with a total of 1,534 places. The number of employees per institutional place has increased in the past year.

Six out of ten are public

The public sector owns and operates six out of ten childrens institutions, i.e. 60 per cent. The county municipalities are responsible for the great majority of these institutions (92 per cent). Private organisations and foundations own the rest of the institutions.

177 institutions

In 1999 a total of 177 childrens institutions were registered with a total of 1,534 places. The distribution was a follows: 18 childrens homes, 66 youths homes, 16 combined childrens and youths homes, 15 institutions for parents and children (maternity homes), 12 living/working collectives, 29 acute ward institutions and 21 other institutions. About five out of ten childrens institutions (56 per cent) are currently either childrens or youths homes, i.e. institutions that offer residence to children and youths who need it. Many of these institutions have some acute places in addition to places for long-term child welfare placements.

Oslo has the best degree of coverage

One measure of the degree of coverage can be to look at the number of places in relation to the number of children under 18 years of age in each county. The places in each individual institution are distributed here among the counties that made the places available on a given date when they were counted.

For the country as a whole the degree of coverage in 1999, as in the previous year, was 15 places per 10,000 children under age 18. Oslo still tops the list with 30 places per 10,000 children, but this figure has decreased in the last two years from 33 places per 10,000 children in 1997. Finnmark county is in second place with 20 places, followed by Sør-Trøndelag county with 18 places per 10,000 children. Oppland and Sogn og Fjordane counties had the worst coverage with six places per 10,000 children, down from seven in the previous year.

More employees

A total of 3,196 man-years were carried out at the 177 institutions in 1999. This is 2.1 man-years per place compared with 1.9 in the previous year. Residential child care workers are still the largest group of professionals with 27 per cent of all man-years in 1999, compared with 28 per cent in the previous year. Unskilled workers are still a large group, currently numbering 26 per cent of all employees, compared with 27 per cent in the previous year.

Operating expenses of NOK 1.4 billion

Of the 177 institutions that were in use in 1999 we lack economic information from five. Thus, the calculation of costs per place is based on only 172 institutions with 1,487 places. The gross operating expenses for these were almost NOK 1.4 billion.

Tables:

• Table 1 Number of beds in children's institutions, by type of institution and by county. Per 15 January 2000
• Table 2 Residents in children's institutions, by type of institution, sex and age. Per 15 January 2000
• Table 3 Residents in children's institutions, by type of institution and duration of the stay. Per 15 January 2000
• Table 4 Man-years in children's institutions, by type of institution and occupation. Per 15 January 2000
• Table 5 Gross expenditure for children's institutions, by type of institution, ownership and county. 1999. 1 000 kroner