Response to interpellation 2022/23:103 on preventive work at state youth homes
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 M considers sexual abuse at Sis to be unacceptable and that zero tolerance prevails 1. 1 M argues that Sis has received increased funding for competence development and that mandatory basic training has been introduced to prevent abuse 1. M emphasizes that the government prioritizes the work and shall follow Sis's development. 2 M considers that there are structural problems and that better knowledge of neuropsychiatric disabilities and trauma treatment is needed 2. 2 M argues that social services need opportunities to work preventatively so that no one needs to stay at Sis homes 2. 2 M prepares a national foster home register 2. 2 M strengthens the resources for preventive measures with 1.2 billion 2. 3 M considers it unreasonable that girls and women have higher separation rates and perceived insecurity than boys and men 3. 3 M emphasizes that zero tolerance against sexual abuse at Sis must prevail 3. C argues that it is unacceptable that staff suspected of sexual offenses have been allowed to continue working. C considers that Sis management has known about the issues for a long time without taking action. 4 C argues that girls are subjected to coercive measures to a significantly higher degree than boys 4.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Mr. Speaker! Christofer Bergenblock has asked me what measures I intend to take to prevent and preclude sexual harassment and abuse at youth homes under the State Board of Institutions, Sis, in the future. He has also asked me what measures I intend to take so that staff suspected of sexual crimes at youth homes under Sis are not allowed to work with the placed youths during the investigation period.
The children and young people who are placed in compulsory care at Sis are in a particularly vulnerable situation. Sis's mission is to ensure that the children, young people, and adults cared for at Sis receive purposeful, good, and legally secure care, as well as better conditions for a socially functioning life without substance abuse, crime, and other socially destructive behavior.
Sexual abuse must not occur. It is completely unacceptable. Every case is one case too many - zero tolerance prevails. Everyone has the right to feel safe and secure during placement at Sis. Therefore, a powerful effort is required to prevent and counteract such abuses.
The agency has received significantly increased appropriations to enable a competence and quality lift within the agency. Good education and high competence among the staff contribute to a more legally secure care, a better approach, and thus better conditions to prevent and counteract sexual exploitation and improper relations.
Sis is undertaking extensive change work aimed at strengthening the quality of care and treatment. The work to prevent and counteract sexual abuse is prioritized. Sis works systematically with these issues within the framework of the work with governance and management as well as competence supply and competence development. Among other things, a mandatory basic training for all new employees has been introduced where these issues are addressed.
Regular discussions about ethics, morals, and values take place at all Sis homes, and Sis also works with the gender composition in the staff groups as well as to reduce solitary work. The staff shall have the knowledge and competence to identify and act on warning signs in the operations. Furthermore, Sis is looking into the possibility of establishing an internal complaints body as a complement to, among others, the Inspectorate for Health and Social Services, Ivo, and the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
Ivo has been tasked with strengthening the supervision of Sis's institutions that care for young girls according to the Act (1990:52) with special provisions on the care of young people. The assignment was reported on January 10, 2023, and the supervision shows that there were deficiencies in all special youth homes that care for girls. The deficiencies concern, among other things, insufficient competence among staff regarding neuropsychiatric disabilities and treatment. Girls at Sis feel less safe than boys.
Ivo notes that insufficient competence among staff increases the risk of using special powers and unauthorized coercive measures. Ivo also directs criticism toward the fact that suspects of sexual offenses have been allowed to work in close proximity to clients. Against the background of Ivo's report, Sis has decided to introduce a new routine where employees who are subjects of a preliminary investigation shall not work in close proximity to clients.
Sis has received a reporting requirement in the authority's regulatory letter for 2023 to analyze and assess the results of the measures the authority has taken to meet the need for a safe environment, as well as the measures that have been taken for the purpose of preventing and countering sexual abuse and improper relationships at the authority. I will continuously and carefully follow Sis's handling of the results from Ivos's supervision and the ongoing development work, as well as the results of this.
Christofer Bergenblock (C)
Mr. Speaker! I submitted this interpellation back in December. We can see that it has taken quite a long time, but it feels good to have it answered now. I would like to thank Camilla Waltersson Grönvall for the answer. I am also pleased that the Minister has acted on the matter since this was uncovered.
The background to my interpellation was the episode of P1's documentary program Kaliber that was broadcast in early December, where it was revealed that staff suspected of sex crimes at our state-run youth homes were allowed to continue working during the ongoing investigation. Furthermore, a report from Ivo has since been added, which partly confirms the picture that Kaliber showed, and partly points to further poor conditions at our state-run youth homes, especially regarding the care of our girls.
Youth who are located at the state youth homes are taken into custody under the Act concerning Certain Conditions for the Care of Young People, LVU, and therefore have no possibility of taking themselves out of the situation or leaving the youth home where they are located. The background to the placements is often a form of psychosocial issues that can involve crime, substance abuse, or self-harming behavior. Many of the youths also carry traumatic background experiences and have themselves been exposed to violence or sexual abuse prior to the placement.
These young people are taken into compulsory care and placed under compulsory guardianship by society to protect them from harmful environments or destructive behaviors. This means that society fully takes on the parental responsibility for these young people and thus also the responsibility to protect them and lead them onto the right path. That sexual harassment and sexual abuse occur in this environment is, of course, completely unacceptable.
Despite this, 24 percent of the girls in Ivo's report state that they have, one or more times, experienced staff groping or performing other sexual acts against them or others. Furthermore, it appears from the report, just as in the radio report, that Sis has allowed staff to remain working in direct contact with the youths during the ongoing investigation into sexual offenses. This is not only unacceptable but also undermines the trust in Sis as an institution.
It is naturally good that Sis has now taken the criticism to heart and decided that staff will no longer be allowed to work client-facing during the time for such an investigation, but it is strange that it should require both a radio report and a supervisory report for such a change to occur, which should be self-evident.
Nevertheless, the problem remains that every fourth girl reports that staff members grope or commit other sexual acts. The Minister highlights that a competence and quality boost is now to be carried out at the agency and that they are looking into establishing an internal complaints body. This is naturally good, but these problems have persisted for a long time. The management of Sis has been aware of the issues for a long time - since before Ivos's report - but has still not taken necessary measures earlier.
My follow-up question to the Minister is: What makes us believe this time that there will actually be a change at the state youth homes so that we can avoid future reports of staff behaving distantly towards the youths, bullying, committing sexual assaults or entering into improper relationships?
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the member for the question. This is not only an issue that I have worked on during my nearly four months as Minister for Social Services, but it was also one of the issues that I began to work on most intensively when I started working in the Social Affairs Committee, which was over five years ago.
This was already one of the issues that really raised questions. It is also something that the committee has focused on during these five years, which I want to believe has helped the authority to achieve the improvements that are now being implemented.
As the member knows, Sweden received a new government four months ago, and within my area of responsibility lies precisely this task. It is a reason to have greater confidence that something will happen this time. I share the member's view that it has taken far too long and that too little has happened in this agency.
I want to once again emphasize that it is extremely serious that Sis has not been able to ensure that all children and young people cared for by Sis have a safe and secure care environment. Children, young people, and adults have the right to feel safe. Sexual abuse must, as I said in my opening response, never ever occur. Zero tolerance prevails and shall prevail.
Therefore, the work to prevent and counter sexual abuse at Sis is a priority for the government. It is important that the staff within Sis are suitable and have the right competence for their assignment. Therefore, issues such as ethics, treatment, and sexual abuse must be present in the daily work. This is a matter of rights, and it is naturally a central issue for the quality and results of the operations. It is also an important management issue, and therefore it is important that the management within Sis at every level works very intensively to address these problems.
To increase the pace in this, the strong opposition work of the Riksdag in a work of change and quality has been particularly important. Large financial supplements have been received to enable quality and capacity improvements. It is something that this government has increased by 49 million during this budget year.
I am pleased that work is now being done on something that, among other things, the children's rights organizations have pointed out for a long time, namely to establish an internal complaints mechanism. I will follow this work with great interest.
When it repeatedly emerges that there are irregularities and abuses, there is no doubt that it is absolutely necessary for the authority to get to the bottom of this and conduct an analysis of why it looks the way it does. This appears to be a culture within this authority, and one must get to the bottom of that.
The government will work in different ways and will follow this work to ensure that the right staff is obtained and that the staff works with the care and treatment that the persons in question are entitled to.
Christofer Bergenblock (C)
Mr. Speaker! It feels good that this is a priority issue for the government. It will also be a priority issue for me in my work in the Committee on Social Affairs.
The problems at the state youth homes are not just about all the girls who experience that they have been subjected to sexual harassment or abuse, but also about the more overarching picture of young girls who experience insecurity at the state youth homes. In Ivo's alarm report, it appears that almost half of the placed girls felt insecure at their residences. Only 55 percent of the girls stated that they felt safe, while the corresponding figure for the boys was 83 percent.
If the care that these girls receive is to have any impact and function at all, they must first and foremost feel safe in the place where they are located. If that safety and trust is lacking, the care will not yield any results.
Many of these girls carry with them experiences of insecure conditions in the form of dysfunctional families, destructive environments, and often several placements in different foster homes and perhaps HVB homes before they have come to the Sis home.
Ending up in compulsory care at a state youth home is naturally not easy, but the most fundamental thing is that the environment one arrives at is perceived as safe and secure. This requires that the staff are both suitable and well-equipped for the task they have and have the right tools and methods.
Unfortunately, it also appears in Ivo's report that girls are subjected to various coercive measures to a significantly greater extent than boys, and that these are far from always occurring on a legal basis. 30 percent of the girls in the report tell about separations, while the corresponding figure for boys is 9 percent. This points to an inability of the staff to handle girls, while they seem to have more experience and perhaps more training when it comes to handling boys in corresponding situations.
Together with the gasping and sexual advances, as well as the inability of Sis' management to handle the staff suspected of such actions, this shows structural problems within Statens institutionsstyrelse. It is not about individual cases and unfortunate circumstances, but about a structural inability to care for vulnerable girls in a professional manner.
Of the twelve youth homes for girls that the State Institutions Board operates, all received criticism from Ivo, just as the Minister mentioned. In two cases, the conditions were additionally judged to be so serious that a decision was made to request Sis to take immediate action. The overall picture showed that there were serious deficiencies in safety and security at the state youth homes where girls stay.
Without doubt, Sis needs to undergo extensive changes and have continuous oversight from both ministries and supervisory authorities. The Committee on Health and Welfare will, of course, closely monitor the government's work to address the operations.
What measures does the Minister intend to take if it nevertheless turns out that the development also continues in the wrong direction regarding the care of girls placed in state youth homes?
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Mr. Speaker! I share the view that there are structural problems. I wish it were limited to a single agency, but when it comes to young girls, unfortunately, parts are missing in the entire treatment chain.
It is treatment and care that we shall provide our young girls. They shall receive support to find a bright future. They shall not time and again be confirmed that when one finds oneself in society's care, one is cheated, ill-treated, or subjected to sexual abuse. This means that we need to review so much more. There needs to be a different knowledge regarding neuropsychiatric disabilities. Trauma treatment is also a part that very often is highlighted in this context.
We need to work across the entire chain. This means that the social services need to be given the opportunity to work preventatively in a completely different way. The goal, which I believe the member agrees with, is that no one should ever have to stay in Sis-hem. When society has succeeded with all its interventions, one has prevented having to resort to that last resort that Sis-hem is intended to be.
This means, among other things, that we are preparing a national foster home register of licensed foster homes with specific knowledge regarding neuropsychiatric diagnoses or other such matters. It will be an important part of taking a collective grip on social care for, not least, vulnerable girls.
The government is strengthening resources for preventive measures by 1.2 billion, and a non-negligible part goes to Sis. In the regulatory letter to Sis, we have also tightened the grip regarding the submission of reports on preventive measures. We also have a closer dialogue with the agency than has occurred previously, and then directly with the political leadership.
I do not know if it was a threat or a promise that the Social Affairs Committee intends to continue to follow the issue. But I see it as a promise and welcome it, because I believe it is important that the Riksdag's strong commitment continues, also as a support for the government to implement much-needed changes.
I hope that in the near future I can return with further measures if we see that what we are doing now is not sufficient.
As the member knows well, the authority is undergoing change, and there are investigations looking into moving parts of Sis's area of responsibility to Kriminalvården. It concerns our most criminally involved youths, primarily boys. The co-morbidity investigation also looks at things that may come to change Sis's areas of responsibility. We are therefore taking a holistic approach when it comes to Sis's future mandate.
Christofer Bergenblock (C)
Mr. Speaker! Whether it is a threat or a promise, one can reflect on that, but it is in any case a guarantee that the Social Affairs Committee will continue to monitor this issue.
Youth who are cared for by society have the right to a safe and secure environment. That lawlessness, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse occur at all on state youth homes is, of course, completely unacceptable. Ivo's inspection report from January points to an operation with major problems regarding how cared-for girls are treated and handled. That boys and girls are treated differently at the state youth homes makes the issue extra serious.
It is not reasonable that just over half of the girls feel safe, that almost every other girl experiences being subjected to offensive behavior from the staff, that three times as many girls as boys are separated, and that every fourth girl has experienced staff groping or performing other sexual acts.
Ivos criticism of the State Board of Institutions for the Care of Girls is scathing, and measures to address the problems are absolutely necessary. Steps have been taken in the right direction, which is good, but much is required to resolve the problems. It is about the staff's competence and training and about which tools and methods are used. But above all, it is about the governance and management of this operation.
The State Institution Board now has eyes on it regarding conducting an effective and comprehensive change work, but the ultimate responsibility rests with the government. We in the Riksdag will monitor this. It must be a self-evident matter that the one who has been taken into care by the state also has a right to a secure, safe, and trustworthy environment so that one can receive and take in the care one needs.
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Mr. Speaker! Yes, girls and women have higher rates of separation and a higher degree of reported perceived insecurity during the placement period at Sis-homes compared to boys and men. The occurrence of both self-harming behavior and suicide attempts is higher among girls and women than among boys and men. It is not reasonable.
It is also not reasonable not to feel safe when one is in social care. If there is anywhere one should be able to feel safe, it is when one receives social care, and there must be the treatment and care that society promises to give these girls and women.
It is a priority for the government to prevent and address sexual abuse at Sis. It is important that the agency and the government get to the bottom of how this can continue to occur, and a clear answer must be given. My answer today is that there shall be zero tolerance for sexual abuse at Sis.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.