Audit results on child welfare law 'shocking,' says mother

The implementation of Iceland's child welfare law, enacted in 2021 with the goal of providing integrated and barrier-free services for children and parents, has fallen short of its ambitious aims, according to a mother who sought treatment abroad for her son due to a lack of domestic resources. Ingibjörg Einarsdóttir, whose son received addiction treatment in South Africa, described the findings of a state audit as "shocking."

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When the service does not exist, its integration becomes hollow.

The audit by the National Audit Office, released over four years after the law's passage, concluded that while inter-agency cooperation and new procedures have been introduced, the fundamental conditions to achieve the law's main objectives are not yet in place. Einarsdóttir stated that the audit confirms the experiences of parents of children with mental health issues, developmental disorders, disabilities, or addiction problems, who have long called for improved services and faced lengthy waiting lists for resources that do not exist.

Einarsdóttir pointed out that the law primarily enhances communication between systems but does not increase the number of psychologists, shorten waiting lists, or create new treatment options. "When the service does not exist, its integration becomes hollow," she wrote, emphasizing that the audit found the situation for children requiring the most support, those with complex needs, addiction issues, foster children, and disabled children, to be unacceptable. These are the children most at risk of falling through the cracks.

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In my mind, that is a double standard.

Furthermore, the audit revealed a lack of defined metrics to assess the law's success. Einarsdóttir criticized what she termed a "double standard," where societal discourse may focus on other welfare issues while children in critical need are not receiving adequate support. She expressed frustration with politicians' "empty statements" and the ongoing blame-shifting between state and municipal authorities, likening the situation to a "hot potato" being tossed around. The dire reality for these children and their families worsens daily, with the mental healthcare system reaching only a fraction of those in need, and thousands still awaiting diagnoses.

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Children with complex needs are tossed between the state and municipalities like a hot potato.