NORWEGIAN PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMAN National Preventive Mechanism ANNUAL REPORT 2017 52 Police assistance at child welfare institutions Recommendation ››During visits to a number of child welfare institutions, the Parliamentary Ombudsman has noted that police assistance is often used in connection with transporting young people, escapes and also inside the institutions, e.g. to carry out body searches. Children and young people are particularly vulnerable during police transport as there is a particularly high risk of force being used. The police also have access to coercive measures, such as handcuffs, which a child welfare institution does not. The Ombudsman has recommended that the child welfare institutions have clear guidelines in place for their cooperation with the police, and that police assistance, including the use of coercive measures, is documented. This is an important means of strengthening young people’s due process protection and can help to establish an overview of the scope of the use of police assistance in the child welfare service and in relation to individual children. Follow-up ››Akershus youth and family centre, Sole department, has drawn up guidelines for the police’s role on the institution’s grounds with respect to admission and other assistance, and emphasises that the police’s role must always be documented. Hedmark youth and family centre, Vien 4-25 unit, has taken the initiative to speak to the police about the expectations of and delineation between the institution and the police’s tasks. The institution has also drawn up a separate procedure for police assistance and made changes to its procedures in connection with admission and return after escapes. The child welfare service’s emergency institution for young people in Oslo emphasised after a visit that the police shall not enter the section in instances where they are providing transport, and that the assessments and grounds for other police assistance must be documented. Information about coercive measures Recommendation ››Following its visit to the adolescent psychiatric clinic at Akershus University Hospital, the Ombudsman emphasised that the patient should always receive verbal and written information about the coercive measure and the concrete grounds for the administrative decision (record entry). This is an important means of safeguarding patients’ rights and preventing arbitrary use of force. Children and young people are entitled to verbal and written information in the same way as adults. Follow-up ››Following the visit, the adolescent psychiatric clinic has made it clear to all its staff who are responsible for administrative decisions that the patients must receive a copy of the decision and a record entry with the grounds for the decision. This was also a topic at the annual in-house course on the Mental Health Care Act, and new members of staff who are responsible for administrative decisions undergo practical training from experienced staff members in this field.