Unusual coverage of a CPS case by the newspaper Stavanger Aftenblad

Stavanger Aftenblad has carried good articles previously too about realities in the child protection field.
    This week-end they fill all of their first section – 64 pages – with an account about a young girl who is against her will placed in an institution, and about the circumstances of the case.
     Karmøy is an island just outside Haugesund, north of Stavanger on the west coast of Norway.

– Jeg har en følelse av at jeg ikke lever (I have a feeling of not being alive)
Stavanger Aftenblad, 28 January 2016

"Massiv fysisk maktbruk fra barnevernet og politiet. Legging i gulvet. Isolering. Bruk av håndjern, skjold, pepperspray og glattceller. Selvmordsforsøk, selvskading, utageringer og stadige sykehusinnleggelser."
(Massive use of physical force from the CPS and the police. Being held down on the floor. Isolation. The use of handcuffs, shields, pepper spray and bare security cells. Attempted suicide, self-inflicted wounds, acting-out, frequent hospitalisations.)

"Da barnevernet overtok omsorgen for 15 år gamle Ida i januar 2014, ble livet hennes snudd på hodet. Før omsorgsovertakelsen hadde Ida rent rulleblad og hadde aldri vært i kontakt med politiet, gikk på skole, hadde kontakt med venner og familie og bodde hos sin mor."
(When Barnevernet took over the care of Ida, 15 years old, in January of 2014, her life was turned upside down. Before being taken into care, she had a clean record and had never been in contact with the police, she went to school, had contact with friends and family and lived with her mother.)

"Karmøy, juli 2014. Ida overmannes av fire politibetjenter på sitt eget rom, etter å ha rømt fra en akuttinstitusjon i Stavanger. Moren tar bilder."
(Karmøy, July 2014. Ida is overpowered by four police officers in her own room, after having escaped from an acute-institution in Stavanger. The mother takes pictures.)


Barnevernet: – Forstår at det virker uforsvarlig (Barnevernet: – Understand that it seems indefensible)
Stavanger Aftenblad, 28 January 2016
Barnevernslederen kan forstå at avsløringen av den massive maktbruken mot Ida (17) gjennom hennes to år i barnevernet kan skape reaksjoner.
(The leader of Barnevernet can understand that the exposure of the massive use of power against Ida (17) through her two years in Barnevernet can cause reactions.)

"- Jeg har ikke problemer med å skjønne, når dette blir presentert utad, at det ikke fremstår som forsvarlig, sier barnevernleder Jakob Bråtå i Karmøy kommune.
    - Målet har vært å prøve å legge til rette for at barnet skal få en best mulig utvikling og lykkes mest mulig. Målet har vært å gi henne en best mulig inngang til voksenlivet. Utfordringen med en kjempealvorlig atferdssak som dette er: Hvordan kan vi ivareta ungdommen på en forsvarlig måte? Hva er vårt handlingsrom og våre muligheter?"
(– I don't have any problem of understanding, when this is presented publicly, that it appears not to be defensible, says leader of Barnevernet Jakob Bråtå in Karmøy municipality.
    – The aim has been to try to provide for the child to have the best possible development and be able to succeed as much as possible. The aim has been to give her the best possible entry to adult life. The challenge with a hugely serious behaviour-case like this is: How can we take care of the young person in a reliable way? What is our room for action and our scope?)

"Can understand" ?   "Can cause reactions" ?  "Handlingsrom" - room for action, means more or less "elbow room". He seems to be excusing the CPS, saying they aren't responsible, they haven't been able to help the girl because they have been powerless to do what they would like to do?
    For how long is the Norwegian people going to avoid reacting normally to the "explanations" of Barnevernet and Barnevernet's self-satisfied calm?

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Haugesunds Avis, the newspaper of Haugesund, close to Karmøy, has an article about Aftenbladet's 64 pages long coverage of the case:

64-siders reportasje om barnevernsjente fra Karmøy (A 64 pages long report about a CPS-girl from Karmøy)
Haugesunds Avis, 28 January 2016

"KARMØY: Aftenbladet har fulgt Ida i halvannet år. Stavanger-avisa har laget ti lange reportasjer som skildrer Karmøy-jentas liv i barnevernet."
(Aftenbladet has followed Ida for a year and a half. The Stavanger newspaper has written ten long news stories about the life of the Karmøy girl in Barnevernet.)

"Tre av avisas journalister har jobbet med reportasjeserien over lang tid."
(Three of the paper's journalists have worked on the series over a long time.)

"- Jentas intensjon er å skape interesse rundt tvangsbruk og barnevernet, og for at andre ikke skal komme i samme situasjon som henne selv. Hun ønsker at folk flest skal få skikkelig innsyn, for å kunne stille kritiske spørsmål rundt barnevernet og bruk av institusjoner til å behandle unge, sier [hennes advokat] Hetland til Haugesunds Avis.
(– The girl's intention is to create interest around the use of force and the CPS, so that others may not be placed in the same situation as herself. She wishes ordinary people to see the matter properly and openly, in order to be able to put critical questions about Barnevernet and the use of institutions for treatment of the young, says [her lawyer] Mr Hetland to Haugesunds Avis.)

Aftenbladet har også fulgt jenta i retten, og legger ut videoklipp fra retten på nettsidene sine.
    - Domstolen har tillatt tilstedeværelse i retten i en barnevernssak og en straffesak, sier Hetland."
(Aftenbladet has also been present with the girl in court, and presents video snippets from the court on its website.
    – The court has allowed [outsiders] to be present in court in a child protection case and a criminal case, says Hetland.)

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Haugesunds Avis also links to a third article in Stavanger Aftenblad, which did not turn up on a search on mylder.no. This article is openly on the paper's website for anybody to read:

Barnevernsjentas liv (The life of the CPS girl)
1300 barn lever på institusjon i Norge. Ida er ett av dem. Aftenbladet har i halvannet år fått følge Ida, og kan nå skildre tilværelsen hun har hatt - og hennes kamp for et normalt liv.
(1,300 children live in institutions in Norway. Ida is one of them. Aftenbladet has had the opportunity of following Ida for a year and a half, and can now describe the existence she has had – and her struggle for a normal life.)

"Historien om Ida starter med at det en natt kommer mail til journalist Thomas Ergo:
    "Hei, jeg er ei jente på 16 år. Jeg har vært i barnevernet i 7 måneder og jeg skal flytte til min 7. plass nå. Jeg blir ikke hørt av barnevernet...Setter pris på at folk får lest dette…" "
(The story about Ida starts with a mail arriving one night for journalist Thomas Ergo:
    "Hi, I am a girl of 16. I have been in Barnevernet for 7 months and I am to move to my 7th place now. I am not being heard by Barnevernet …. I'll appreciate it if people are able to read this …")

"Ved å følge Ida gjennom en svært dramatisk periode av hennes liv, får vi et unikt innblikk i en verden preget av hemmelighold og taushet. Vi er med henne i rettssaker der hun forsøker å komme seg bort fra institusjonen som hun er tvangsplassert i. Vi besøker henne der hun bor."
(By following Ida through a very dramatic period of her life, we obatin unique insight into a world characterised by secrecy and silence. We are with her in court cases in which she tries to get away from the institution in which she is forcibly kept. We visit her where she lives.)

"Ida er fremdeles tvangsplassert på en institusjon utenfor Bardufoss."
(Ida is still kept by force at an institution outside Bardufoss [far north in Norway].)

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Very good indeed from Stavanger Aftenblad! And very good of Haugesunds Avis to follow up.

  

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Hjemmeside http://www.mhskanland.net