Children's prosperity and welfare

• Are you a child who does not feel well and needs to talk about how you feel?

• Do you worry about your child?

• Do you have questions regarding services for your child?

Important: If you suspect or know that a child is being neglected or abused, or are concerned about a child’s risky behaviour, you are obligated to notify Child Protection Services.

• One way to do this is to use the 112.is emergency web chat, staff there can also advise you about what situations call for mandatory notification.

What does children's prosperity mean?

All children have the right to receive the services they need, when they need to.

With this in view, children and parents can request so-called service integration for children’s prosperity, when there’s a need for it.

The concept of prosperity refers to circumstances where a child can achieve full development and health on his or her own terms, while service integration implies organized cooperation between parties who can provide necessary services to the child.

The goal is to provide the right services at the right time – and in this way aiming to reduce the need for more comprehensive services later in life.

A service coordinator for each child

From the time of pregnancy to when a child turns eighteen, all children and their parents have access to a child service coordinator, at health care providers, schools, or with other social services.

The child's service coordinator is a professional in the immediate environment who has an overview of the services available and can answer questions or give advice regarding services for the child.

Child service coordinators facilitate the family's path through the systems associated with child services. They provide parents and children with information regarding services, eliminating the need to go to many places to look for such information. The location of the service coordinator depends on the age of the child:

When necessary, a child service coordinator can invite a parent and child (if appropriate) for a consultation. During that consultation the issue is discussed, and the coordinator provides information about available services that could be of use to the parents and child.

Examples of services:

• classes, educational material and other support from health care services

• development support, and various specialized services from preschools

• education counselling and study options, prevention programs including those for bullying, and other services in primary and secondary schools

• community youth and leisure activities, community centers, sports and arts activities

• various support activities from private parties or community groups, for instance concerning mental well-being and substance abuse

If the conclusion from the consultation is that the services of multiple parties could be useful, the coordinator is able to direct cooperation between them, enabling service integration in this way.

If the parents or child do not request service integration, they still retain the right to services for the child, to which service integration work procedures do not apply - such as the relations between service providers, provision of information, and the service coordinator's roles.

More information about service coordinators and their roles.

Links

• The Children's Prosperity website provides more information on procedures and concepts related to service integration.

• The National Agency for Children and Families has guidelines for professionals in relation to the integration of services.

• The Quality and Supervisory Authority of Welfare monitors the quality of welfare services and receives complaints and suggestions.

• Laws about the coordination of services for children (in Icelandic).