Important clarification for freed foster parents

Løvemammaene have long been concerned about the situation of purchased foster parents with seriously ill or needy foster children. Several have experienced being pressured by child welfare services to apply for foster care benefits from NAV, at the risk of being left without income.

Therefore, in September 2025, we sent a letter of concern to Bufdir, and followed up with a new letter in November. Now we have finally received a written and clear clarification from the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs, and it is very important.

In short:
Purchased foster parents must not apply for foster care benefits, and NAV shall reject such applications, as long as the foster parents are still carrying out the assignment.

The Ministry states that:

Foster care allowance is considered freelance income.
When a foster parent is released, this is considered working time in the foster care assignment.
As long as the foster parent is still carrying out the assignment and caring for the child, they are not considered to be away from work.
Thus, the conditions for care benefits under the National Insurance Act are not met.

This means that NAV has no basis for granting care allowance to purchased foster parents. The Ministry is very clear on this.

What does this mean in practice?

The child welfare service cannot shift responsibility onto NAV by “encouraging” foster parents to apply for foster care benefits.
The responsibility lies with child welfare services, which must still make specific and independent assessments of free purchase with the child's needs at the center.
Foster parents should not risk losing income because the regulations are misunderstood or practiced incorrectly.

The ministry is now asking Bufdir to ensure that this clarification is clearly communicated in circulars and guidance, so that both child welfare services and foster parents know what applies.

For Løvemammaene, this is an important «victory.» We have received what we were calling for: a clear, written clarification that can protect foster families from financial insecurity, and ensure that children with high care and welfare needs are not affected by system failure.