Children's coordinator

The right to a child coordinator applies in the event of a child's or young person's illness, acquired injury or functional variation. It can be of a somatic, psychological, physical, social, cognitive or sensory nature.

The intention is that the service needs of the family, the child and the young person are to be coordinated, and that the family experiences getting enough help with this work.

The terms disease, injury or functional variation are a bit difficult to define clearly or unambiguously. In practice, it is not necessary to make a concrete distinction here, because all three options give the right to a children's coordinator.

Terms

The municipality is obliged to appoint a children's coordinator according to Health and Care Services Act § 7-2 a. While families, on the other hand, have the right to a child coordinator after Section 2-5 c of the Patient and User Rights Act if:

the family has children under the age of 18, or is expecting a child (pregnant or in the process of adoption)
with serious illness, injury or functional variation
and who will need long-term and complex or coordinated health and care services and other welfare services

It is not a condition that the child has received a diagnosis. It is the family that has the right to a child coordinator.

By serious is meant the degree of negative impact that the disease, injury or functional variation has on the child's or young person's state of health and need for help. It is based on an individual and concrete professional overall assessment. The assessment is also about taking into account how complicated the condition is to treat, or what health and social work expertise is required to treat the condition or its consequences.

With a need for "health and care services and other welfare services" is considered that the child or young person needs both health and care services and other welfare services. Welfare services can, for example, be NAV benefits or tailored offers in kindergarten or school. Need for services includes both service needs that have already been granted, and service needs that are still unmet. The requirement is therefore not that the services have already been applied for or granted, but that there is a need to do so. That the need must be long-term does not have a limit for future duration, and should not be interpreted strictly. Some people have a particular need for coordination during transitions, and this can trigger the need for a child coordinator applicable during that period.

The family situation, socio-economic conditions or linguistic and cultural barriers can be important in an overall assessment of the child's need for complex or coordinated services. This applies to both the child's needs and the family's overall care tasks and duties.

You can notify the municipality either orally or in writing that you want a children's coordinator.

The best interests of the child

The best interests of the child must be a fundamental consideration in actions and decisions affecting children. The child, the young person and the family must be allowed to express their needs, wishes and views when assessing their right to a child coordinator and when working with their child coordinator.

The children's coordinator has a central role in helping to ensure that the child, the young person and the family can participate, and that they receive information when services are to be carried out. The children's coordinator must carry out his tasks in accordance with the rules on confidentiality and informed consent. The child coordinator has an important role in promoting a good and committed collaborative climate characterized by mutual respect in the interdisciplinary team around the child and family. A children's co-ordinator's duties entail that they must ensure:

coordination of the overall service offer
to have an overview of and contribute actively to safeguarding the municipality's responsibility for the necessary follow-up and facilitation for the family and the child in the form of the offer or performance of health and care services and other welfare services,
that the family and the child receive the necessary information and holistic guidance about the health and care services offered
that the family and the child receive the necessary information and comprehensive guidance about other welfare services and relevant patient and user organisations, that the family and the child are given guidance in their contact with these, and that contact or referral to such services or organizations is communicated
progress in the work with individual plan.

The children's coordinator has the authority to decide what the individual welfare service must do so that the service offer to the family and the child will be comprehensive and coordinated.

The children's coordinator can, for example, clarify what information the individual welfare services must give to each other, which meetings they must attend, and when they must carry out the services so that they are coordinated as best as possible with other welfare services. But the children's coordinator cannot instruct other welfare services about which services and what follow-up they should provide the child, the young person and the family, or how different services should be provided.

The task involves a special responsibility for following up with the services to ensure that the child, the young person and the family get the services they are entitled to. This may involve the children's coordinator contacting the welfare services on behalf of the child, the young person and the family to clarify whether they have sufficiently assessed which services may be appropriate to offer. It may also be relevant to follow up ongoing case management processes regarding assessments of service needs/offers, or whether more documentation or information is needed to be able to make the necessary assessments. The children's coordinator is, together with the rest of the team, in a central position to monitor changes in needs and to be a driving force for necessary measures and reassessments. This means that you as a parent should not have to ask for everything yourself, or take the initiative to apply for everything yourself. The children's coordinator must contribute to this.

The welfare services also have guidance obligation. The children's coordinator must ensure that the family, the child and the young person are familiar with the content of the services they receive, and that they receive guidance on the offers and solutions they can choose or apply for.

You can have the right to a coordinator from both the municipality's health and care service (child coordinator or general coordinator) and the specialist health service (general coordinator) at the same time. Coordinator in the specialist health service has e.g. responsibility for the coordination in connection with admission to hospital. The specialist health service is not obliged to offer a children's coordinator.

Right to complain

No individual decision is made when deciding on a child coordinator. But the municipality must make the decision about the children's coordinator in writing, together with a justification and information about the right to appeal. A patient, user or their representative who believes that the right to a child coordinator has been breached can complain to the State Administrator in accordance with the rules inChapter 7 of the Patient and User Rights Act.

The complaint may concern: 