Variation in Outcomes of Mandated Child Welfare Referrals in Norway.
We use administrative register data from the Norwegian child welfare service (CWS) to analyse the outcomes of 252 144 CWS referrals received between 2014 and 2020. Using a Bayesian hierarchical model, we document extensive and systematic variation across time, across referral sources and across refe...
| Published in: | Child & Family Social Work Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 550 - 566 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
Feb2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=190719869&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 190719869 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 13567500 ETB jtl: Child & Family Social Work issn: 13567500 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Feb2026 vid: 31 iid: 1 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell place: Malden, Massachusetts artinfo: ui: 190719869 185018437 190719869 190719869 10.1111/cfs.13308 190719869 ppf: 550 ppct: 16 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: C – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Variation in Outcomes of Mandated Child Welfare Referrals in Norway. aug: au: Rogeberg, Ole Hernæs, Øystein Sønderskov, Mette Ødegaard, Terje affil: The Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research, Oslo, Norway sug: subj: Child Welfare Norway Referral and Consultation Evaluation Outcomes (Health Care) Norway Child Abuse Prevention and Control Human Funding Source Norway Descriptive Statistics Confidence Intervals Norwegians Nonexperimental Studies Data Analysis Software Police Teachers Dentists Child Abuse, Sexual Dental Hygiene ab: We use administrative register data from the Norwegian child welfare service (CWS) to analyse the outcomes of 252 144 CWS referrals received between 2014 and 2020. Using a Bayesian hierarchical model, we document extensive and systematic variation across time, across referral sources and across referral concerns. Defining high severity cases as cases in which the CWS seeks mandatory interventions, mandated and nonmandated reporters have similar substantiation rates, but this shared probability declines by half across our data period. The differences in substantiation rates across reporting sources persist when comparing referrals with identical referral concerns. Drawing on the extant literature, we suggest that occupational groups may have evolved diverging reporting practices as a consequence of vague official guidelines combined with a lack of systematic training in identifying relevant cues of maltreatment. We also highlight a possible tension in the Norwegian system: while the family‐oriented Norwegian CWS largely opens cases based on referrals, its aim is to work preventively and voluntarily with families before issues reach the severity covered by existing reporting mandates. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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