| 47 Cases concluded in 2018 in relation to monitoring activities Nine cases were opened by the Ombudsman on his own initiative (three of which in direct continuation of monitoring visits). Two of the cases resulted in criticism and informal recommendations, respectively. Selected investigations Conditions to be improved for 15- to 17-yearold inmates in local and state prisons: Based on monitoring visits to two local prisons, the Ombudsman raised a number of questions regarding the treatment of inmates aged 15 to 17 years. The authorities provided information about new initiatives aimed at improving conditions for young people detained in local and state prisons. For instance, the authorities intended to introduce rules to ensure that young people serving time are offered schooling which bears comparison with that provided by primary and lower secondary schools. (News story published on 4 July 2018). A boy was illegally monitored in an accommodation facility: An accommodation facility had, among other things, taken screenshots of the mobile phone of a boy placed in the facility, written down his conversations with his former foster family and forwarded the information to the municipality. No decision had been made by the municipality’s committee for children and young people that the boy’s communication was to be monitored. The Ombudsman criticised the illegal monitoring of the boy’s communication and notified Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, the Minister for Children and Social Affairs and the municipal council of the case. (Case No. 2018-26 and news story published on 5 July 2018). Children and young people placed in care outside their home are entitled to be taught in a school: Placement facilities without an inhouse school are not permitted to provide the schooling for children and young people placed in care. Instead, these children and young people must be taught in, for instance, an in-house school of another facility or a primary and lower secondary school, possibly in a special needs class or school. This was the Ombudsman’s conclusion following an investigation based on the schooling of a 14-year-old. On that basis, the Ministry of Education would send a letter to all municipalities about schooling in daytime care facilities and placement facilities without in-house schools. (News story published on 4 October 2018). Rejected asylum children in Departure Centre Sjælsmark living under difficult conditions: Following two unannounced monitoring visits, the Ombudsman concluded that the conditions for children in Departure Centre Sjælsmark were liable to make their childhood substantially more difficult and to restrict their possibilities of a natural development and self-realisation considerably. At the same time, it was the Ombudsman’s assessment that their conditions could not generally be presumed to violate international conventions, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. (Case No. 2018-39 and news stories published on 20 December 2018 and 8 January 2019).