Locked State Youth Homes

A report describing how the operations of the National Board of Institutional Care (SiS) youth homes violate the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

• The activities at SiS youth homes for children placed under the Care of Young Persons (Special Provisions) Act (LVU) have, in practice, developed into special institutions for children and young people with disabilities.
• An increasingly large proportion of the children at SiS homes are held under locked conditions, and the length of time they spend there has increased significantly over the years.
• Social workers testify that there are few good alternatives to placing children in SiS facilities.
• Despite the fact that children and young people with neuropsychiatric and intellectual disabilities are heavily overrepresented in SiS homes, the operations are not adapted to their needs for support and care.
• Violations affect children and young people with neuropsychiatric and intellectual disabilities, and there are serious shortcomings in access to health care, particularly psychiatric care.