Five municipalities with new treatment services for families with violence

Child protection in Stavanger is to adopt a new measure for families with violence and other neglect of children. Randaberg municipality is also involved here.

CHILD PROTECTION: The new measure MST-CAN is to be used when normal support measures in child protection are not enough. The aim is to ensure that the children are safe, that new episodes of violence and neglect are prevented, that families are kept together and mental health problems in the family are reduced.

“Families must also be assured of support in their own social networks for a sustainable change over time. Today, the solution is often to place the children outside the home if the child protection measures do not work,” says Stavanger municipality’s website.

The establishment of the MST-CAN team is a collaboration between the child welfare services in Sandnes, Randaberg and Kvitsøy, Sola and Stavanger. A joint team will be established, with Stavanger as the host municipality.

– We want to try out new ways and methods within the field of child welfare, and aim for children, young people and their families to be met with kindness and respect. We strongly believe that the MST-CAN team will contribute to us providing the right help at the right time. For example, this should be able to contribute to fewer care takeovers and placements outside the home, says acting head of child protection Anne Grethe Rosså Ramsvik.

MST-CAN stands for multisystemic therapy – child abuse and neglect. Any interventions in the family by this team must be planned on the basis of thorough surveys and analyses. The scheme must be tailored to meet the children’s needs.

– We are looking forward to an exciting recruitment process this spring, where we are looking for skilled professionals with a great commitment to vulnerable families, says Rosså Ramsvik.

The team will consist of a supervisor/manager, four therapists/psychologists and an environmental therapist. The position as psychologist and leader of the team is now vacant. The other positions will be advertised in due course.