Danish school children face two-year wait for psychological assessments

School children in some Danish municipalities face lengthy waits of up to two years for assessments from the Pedagogical Psychological Counseling (PPR) unit. This delay is hindering access to necessary support for children struggling in school.

Thyge Tegtmejer, a senior researcher at Vive, the National Research and Analysis Centre for Welfare, told Mandag Morgen that while most municipalities have shorter waiting times, about ten percent experience waits exceeding 6.5 months. In some extreme cases, the wait reaches two years.

PPR services are crucial for evaluating children's needs for support within schools and institutions. They also play a role in referring children for further evaluation by child and adolescent psychiatry services.

Preliminary results from Vive's ongoing study indicate that PPR units in several municipalities have unintentionally become a bottleneck. This is preventing children experiencing distress in primary school from receiving timely help.

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But then there are also ten percent with waiting times of over 6.5 months – including also a number of municipalities where it completely goes off the rails, and where they have waiting times of up to two years.