Barnahus ur socialsekreterares perspektiv

In this part-study of the main study "Children in Barnahus", the perspective of the child welfare caseworker/social worker is explored. A total of 56 child welfare caseworkers in the Swedish Child Welfare Services (CWS) have participated in the study. Sweden has a service- and family-oriented social welfare system focused on providing early and preventive measures for families with children. The main orientation is collaboration with the child and the family, to offer support and focus on efforts on voluntary basis. The participating child welfare caseworkers talked about Barnahus primarily as a place for consultation, coordination and consultation. In the context of Barnahus the child welfare caseworkers’ main orientation was to prevent that the involvement of and the child’s visit in Barnahus, makes it more difficult for the CWS to approach and collaborate with the child’s family in further investigation and assessments of what is in the best interest of the child.  The extent of their own (CWS’s) reporting of cases to the police, was questioned in view of the drama that Barnahus visits can become for involved children and the child's family. Is it in the best interest of the child to primarily be summoned to Barnahus; become interviewed by policemen; to wait, too often for a long time, before the person on suspicion is heard and even longer until the case is brought further, if there will be any further proceedings at all. In very few cases is started prosecution.  The child welfare caseworkers saw their main task in Barnahus to assess the child's immediate need of protection by watching and listening in a co-hearing room with video connection to the child participating in the forensic interview with the policeman. In the study is recommended that a routine become introduced to offer every child after the police interview, a conversation of with the child’s own child welfare caseworker. Children in Sweden have legal right to be involved in matters concerning the child. Here it is about the child's need and best interest, and the child should become consulted in the assessments, if the child wants to and has the capacity for this. The child has also legal rights to be informed and have the opportunity to express a view of his/her own in what is going on and on plans. Important that the child welfare caseworkers pay attention to well-being of the child both immediately after the visit at Barnahus and later on. When  custodians are suspected of the crime, they are not invited to Barnahus together with their child. After being heard at Barnahus, special measures might have to be taken for protection of the child. If not, the child might anyhow might need recovery support after suddenly becoming summoned to Barnahus and/or in meeting their parents again if they haven’t been at Barnahus. In order to enable this, the CWS has to organize the social work so that the child welfare caseworker who meet the child at Barnahus also continues to support and be the child’s own child welfare caseworkers further on.