Icelandic approach to child welfare

To the Editor;

As a clinical social worker, I spent one summer in Iceland as an exchange substance abuse clinician. I was impressed by a then-practiced response to child abuse and neglect there.

The child welfare authorities removed children and placed them with relatives or foster families immediately when danger was a concern. Then it was up to the parents to prove they had resolved the behaviors and issues that endangered their child.

Plenty of free services were available but the parents had to seek them out and effectively use them vs. having a social worker make such arrangements. The parents would then be the ones to solicit a court hearing to present their arguments for returned custody.

Jane Fairchild

Orneville Township