Family counselling service, 2004

The family counselling offices dealt with 28 500 cases in 2004, a small increase from previous years. The national child welfare and family counselling service spent approximately NOK 240 million on family counselling in 2004, or NOK 8 400 per case. There are some differences between regions. For instance, Region South spent approximately NOK 7 500 per case and Region West slightly more than NOK 9 800.

Couple related issues main reason for enquiry

In more than half of the cases that the family counselling offices dealt with in 2004, the primary client reported that couple related issues were the main reason for the enquiry. This corresponds well with the figure showing that couple counselling was the main actions in the 21 800 cases that were ended in 2004.

For most of the 22 200 new cases in 2004, the first session was held within a month after the primary client contacted the family counselling service. The average treatment time after the first session was 119 days for the cases that were closed in 2004. This is a small decrease from previous years.

The average number of sessions per family counselling case was three. If we take into consideration the time spent on some cases starting prior to 2004, the average number of session increases to four. During these four sessions the therapist spent an average 5.5 man hours on direct client treatment.

Mediation

The family counselling offices are the core unit in the Norwegian mediation service, and meditation is a major task in the family counselling service. In 2004, the family counselling offices carried out almost 8 800 mediations, 60 per cent of all mediations accomplished in Norway in 2004. External mediators conducted the other 40 per cent.

For almost 36 per cent of the meditations carried out by external mediators the first meeting was held within one week. This compares with only 8 per cent of mediations at family counselling offices. In 35 per cent of the meditations at family counselling offices, the time from application to first meeting exceeded three weeks. In 2004, mediation certificates were issued in more then 90 per cent of the meditations, and the majority were issued after one or two sessions.

Employment

In 2004, the number of man years in the family counselling service was 400, a small increase from 2003. A comparison of the number of family counselling positions and inhabitants per county, shows that Region North comes had slightly more than 1.3 positions per 10 000 inhabitants, whereas Region Middle had 0.7 positions per 10 000 inhabitants.

Tables:

• Table 1 Family counselling services, new cases, by reason for inquiry, county and office. 2004 (Updated 16.09.2005)
• Table 2 Family counselling services, new cases by period of waiting, county and office. 2004 (Updated 16.09.2005)
• Table 3 Family counselling services, closed cases by duration, county and office. 2004 (Updated 16.09.2005)
• Table 4 Family counselling services, counselling sessions, by county and office. 2004 (Updated 16.09.2005)
• Table 5 Family counselling services, by status per 31 December 2004, by county and office (Updated 16.09.2005)
• Table 6 Family counselling services, by main actions in the counselling, county and office. 2004 (Updated 16.09.2005)
• Table 7 Family counselling services, by man-hours spent on counselling sessions, county and office. 2004 (Updated 16.09.2005)
• Table 8 Number of meditations, by mediation authority and county. 2004
• Table 9 Time from mediation application too first meeting, by county. 2004
• Table 10 Time from mediation application to first meeting, by county. 2004
• Table 11 Mediation whith certificate, by session before certificate and county. 2004
• Table 12 Key figures for national family counselling service. Figures for 2003 and 2004
• Table 13 Figures national family counselling service. Figures for 2003 and 2004
• Table 14 Mediations. Figures for 2003 and 2004