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Date: November 25, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:05 pm
Time: 8:05 pm
Results for national preventive mechanism
1 results foundAuthor: Parliamentary Ombudsman, The, Norway Title: Visit Report: The Klokkergarden Collective 6-8 June 2017 Summary: The Parliamentary Ombudsman's National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) visited the Klokkergarden Collective "Klokkergardenkollektivet" on 6-8 June 2017. The Klokkergarden collective is one of several long-term institutions under the foundation "Stiftelsen Klokkergarden". The foundation was established in 1980 with the objective to rehabilitate young people with substance abuse and behavioural problems. The Klokkergarden Collective is in Asnes municipality in Hedmark county and can accommodate 15 persons between the ages of 13 and 18. The institution is approved for placement without the young person's consent. The physical surroundings at the collective appeared to be good, and there seems to be a broad range of activities on offer for the young people, both at and outside the institution. The Parliamentary Ombudsman also had the impression that the young people were given good opportunities to help to decide which activities they wanted to participate in. The institution also had good procedures in place for safeguarding the health of the young people upon arrival and during their stay. The collective had made few administrative decisions on the use of force in the past year. However, the institution made many decisions to limit freedom of movement and the use of electronic means of communication in 2016. It seemed that such decisions were made routinely when the young people arrived at the institution. It was also found during the visit that the record-keeping practice had potential for improvement. A review revealed shortcomings in the records, including the fact that any alternative measures that had been considered/tried before the use of force were rarely recorded. It was also found that the institution had a practice of grounding the young people in their rooms if they overslept. This is a clear violation of young people's right to autonomy and privacy and increases the risk of them feeling isolated. Those who overslept in the morning and failed to appear downstairs by 8.45 had to stay in their rooms for the rest of the day. This included having to eat their meals in their rooms. Nor were they allowed to participate in social activities organised outside the house. No administrative decision was made regarding this restriction even if the grounding involved a clear restriction on the young people's freedom of movement inside and outside the institution. The Klokkergarden Collective had a practice of taking the young people on what they referred to as 'motivational trips' as part of their treatment. According to the institution plan, the purpose of such trips is to enable the young people to concentrate on working on conflicts or problems that have developed quickly or over time, without being disturbed. The institution stated that the motivational trip meant that 'a young person leaves the institution together with two adults for a limited period in order to keep an overview of and focus on special tasks.' The institution plan lists four main reasons for organising a motivational trip: reintegration after an escape; special care of a young person after substance abuse; intensifying treatment; and a need for extra care and attention. However, it was found during the visit that violating one of the institution's main rules was also an important reason why the young people were sent on motivational trips. Both staff and the young people stated that one of the reasons for a motivational trip could be if someone had 'secrets' with other young people. It was found that the motivational trips were mainly carried out following a decision by the staff. Thirty-five motivational trips were organised in 2016, and as of 27 April, nine such trips had been carried out in 2017. A document review showed that the trips lasted from a few days up to 14 days. In the Parliamentary Ombudsman's assessment, there was a clear risk that the motivational trips at the Klokkergarden Collective were seen as punishment. It was difficult to see any correspondence between many of the circumstances that could lead to a motivational trip and the guidelines to the Rights Regulations concerning 'destructive behaviour' or 'necessary on the basis of the responsibility to provide the individual with care and considerations for everyone's safety and happiness'. When the staff had decided to take a young person on a motivational trip, the young person was normally pulled aside by staff members in the hallway near the exit of the main building. If the young person did not wish to go on the trip and did not go out to the car voluntarily, the staff and the young person remained in the hallway until the latter consented to the trip. In such situations, the staff would block the doors in the hallway by standing in front of them to prevent the young person from going anywhere but straight out to the car. The young person was not allowed to return to the rest of the group or to their own room, and nor were they allowed to pack their things. The young people were not always told about the reason for the motivational trip. Nor were they told how long the motivational trip would last. The management said that the young people couldn't be informed about the duration of the trip, because the young person him/herself and the work carried out during the trip determined how long the trip would last. In the cases where the young person had not been told about the reason for the motivational trip or where this was not apparent, the length of the trip could be determined by the young person's ability to describe the circumstances that made the adults decide to organise a motivational trip. Several of the young people experienced this as the staff waiting for them to 'confess something' and that if they confessed to the rights things, they would be allowed to go back to the institution. In many cases, the motivational trips also included a period as 'phaseless', and always a plenary meeting at which the young person had to state the reason why he/she was sent on the trip and answer questions from both adults and the other young people. The degree of force and the lack of any real opportunity for the young people to participate meant that it was difficult to see how a motivational trip could make a positive contribution to any lasting change. The young people were placed in a coercive situation where their only way out was to comply with the adults' demands for how they should behave and what they should say. In total, the pressure that was exercised in the hallway before a trip without it being possible for the young person to withdraw to their room, the lack of openness as regards the reason for the trip and its length, the 'phaseless' period and the uncertainty about how long this would last, and the plenary meeting requirement constituted a worrying lack of openness and respect from the institution vis-avis the young people. The fact that, in the past year, there had been an instance where a young person had been subjected to physical pressure to complete a motivational trip, underpins concerns about the risk of inhuman treatment that young people are subjected to through the Klokkergarden Collective's use of involuntary motivational trips. Details: Oslo, Norway: 2017. 9p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 12, 2019 at: https://www.sivilombudsmannen.no/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Visit-report-2017-The-Klokkerg%C3%A5rden-Collective.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Norway URL: https://www.sivilombudsmannen.no/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Visit-report-2017-The-Klokkerg%C3%A5rden-Collective.pdf Shelf Number: 154081 Keywords: Detention CentersJuvenile CorrectionsJuvenile DetentionMotivational TripNational Preventive MechanismSubstance AbuseTreatment Programs |