4 votes

Denmark's controversial family policy sees many Danish parents fleeing to nearby countries, especially to the German border city of Flensburg

Posted by mycketforvirrad
Tags: family, parenting, denmark, adoption.forced, children, care homes, immigration, borders, germany.flensburg, policy.social, videos, author.gunnar kohne, source.dw, short read
https://www.dw.com/en/parents-on-probation-denmarks-controversial-family-policy/av-62657562

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Title
Parents on probation - Denmark's controversial family policy | DW | 30.07.2022
Authors
Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com)
Published
May 28 2022
Word count
65 words

5 comments

  1. [5]
    elcuello
    Link
    This is fucking bullshit click bait and paints it like parents are fleeing the country from the Danish government who snap up children because they know best. Of course there will be cases where...

    This is fucking bullshit click bait and paints it like parents are fleeing the country from the Danish government who snap up children because they know best. Of course there will be cases where it's very difficult but the way this "article" portrays it is not the way it is in most cases.

    Also the music makes me wanna throw up and immediately erodes the sincerity of the message.

    4 votes
    1. [4]
      Grendel
      Link Parent
      Can you give me some context on this? Are you from Denmark or familiar with their policy? I do agree that the video does not give enough information to really know what's going on. It doesn't...

      Can you give me some context on this? Are you from Denmark or familiar with their policy?

      I do agree that the video does not give enough information to really know what's going on. It doesn't specify what these policies are, and it doesn't outline the process (other than mentioning appeals, which is usually a last-ditch effort). There were a lot of things implied without information to back it up. The policy of "better to remove early just to be safe" is definitely problematic, but we can't even be sure that's the actual rules.

      I have questions. Do they only remove when the child is unsafe, or when they think they can find a "better" home? Do they give the parents resources before removing the child? After the child is removed, do they go straight to adoption or are the parents given a chance to rehabilitate? Do they give the parents a set of goals to achieve to get their kids back? And if so, how long do they have?

      Here in the US anyways a child is only to be removed if they are in danger. Usually, that's physical danger, such as abuse or neglect. Technically a child can be removed for emotional abuse but that basically never happens since it's kind of impossible to prove. When the child is removed, they have to give the parents a set of goals to achieve and help them achieve them. The intention is always reunification first.

      If after about a year things aren't looking any better for the parents then they can change the plan to Termination of Parental Rights (TPR), after which the child has the chance to be adopted. Usually, they grant extensions after the one-year mark instead.

      Now does this actually happen this way? Depends on the county. The policies are set by the Federal and State governments, however, the cases are managed by each county and there is almost NO oversight whatsoever, so the same case can be handled completely differently between one county and another.

      6 votes
      1. [3]
        cfabbro
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        I'm not from Denmark but was curious about this so decided to look into it. And unfortunately it turns out that trying to find anything about this issue in English is very difficult. The reddit...

        I'm not from Denmark but was curious about this so decided to look into it. And unfortunately it turns out that trying to find anything about this issue in English is very difficult. The reddit post about this DW video is a total clusterfuck, with accusations of a "propaganda campaign" against Denmark being thrown around. IMO, the only useful comment from there is this one (which unfortunately only opens up more questions than it answer):

        The video in German goes on for more than twice as long and I think the report is a bit strange. There are 2 cases reported, one case is not shown in the English video, where the mother is seriously ill and the father is accused of alcohol abuse by the Danish authorities, but it is never said how many cases there are in total. If the Dane who mediates the escapes reports 2 to 3 calls a day, then hundreds of Danes on the run from the Danish Youth Welfare Office must be living here by now and then we would have corresponding data.

        The part where Hanne complains about the Danish youth welfare offices and how good Germany is is also missing in the English video.

        This has nothing to do with reality; in Tyskland, too, the number of children placed in foster care is rising sharply.

        "Accordingly, in 2017 - the last year for which data is available - about 81 000 children and young people were placed in foster care. Compared to 2008, this is an increase of almost 35 per cent."

        https://www.sueddeutsche.de/leben/pflegefamilien-pflegekinder-jugendaemter-1.4427565

        And outside that thread, the only English language article I could find was this one entitled "Municipalities set a record in forced adoptions" from nord.news which is quite disjointed and doesn't explain much, but at least provides some context, and numbers for perspective.

        Lolland Municipality accounts for most forced adoptions. Among the 58 children who were forcibly adopted or who had a case in court from 2015 to 2020, 14 were from Lolland.

        This corresponds to every fourth child.

        The law on forced adoption was amended in 2015.

        Which lead me to find a few articles about said law, but nothing definitive that backs up the claims in this video. And also a few more articles on recent efforts to make forced adoption even easier for Danish authorities. E.g.

        Denmark could ease laws on forced adoption

        A new government proposal could ease the path for authorities to force adoption of children whose parents are not deemed able to take charge of their care.

        Under current rules, very few situations can result in parents being required by law to give up their children for adoption.

        But proposed new rules would make the option an easier one for authorities to take, newspaper Berlingske reports.

        Forced adoptions could occur in cases in which parents are not deemed able to continue as guardians, the newspaper writes.

        Several stages of the forced adoption procedure will be removed in order that cases can be processed more quickly, according to the report.

        The State Administration (Statsforvaltningen) and the Social Appeals Board (Ankestyrelsen) are normally required to make decisions on cases involving forced adoption. The decision would be transferred solely to the latter authority under the government bill.

        Since 2015, municipalities have applied for 22 children to be adopted without the consent of parents. The Social Appeals Board approved 16 of those cases.

        8 votes
        1. [2]
          Grendel
          Link Parent
          I'm kind of speechless here. Both Denmark and the United State of Missouri have 5.9 million people. Your data said that in a 5 year span 58 kids were forcefully adopted. Missouri had 1,300 last...

          I'm kind of speechless here. Both Denmark and the United State of Missouri have 5.9 million people. Your data said that in a 5 year span 58 kids were forcefully adopted.

          Missouri had 1,300 last year alone.

          5 votes
          1. elcuello
            Link Parent
            See? It's way out of proportion and doesn't paint a clear picture at all. Of course there will always be sad cases when we deal with this and I feel for these people. Thank you @cfabbro for...

            See? It's way out of proportion and doesn't paint a clear picture at all. Of course there will always be sad cases when we deal with this and I feel for these people.

            Thank you @cfabbro for providing what I didn't. If you need something translated say the word.

            1 vote