46 Both the county governor and the Office for Children, Youth and Family Affairs – Region South have previously pointed out to Skjerfheimkollektivet that motivational trips must be undertaken based on the resident’s consent. The NPM cannot see that this differs in the case of admission camps, which were also part of the treatment. The admission camps were also routinely organised. Coercion cannot be routinely exercised as a normal part of treatment or the institution’s operations. It became known during the visit that a lack of information about and the possibility to exercise user participation led to the admission camp being characterised by insecurity, fear and use of force. Information and participation are essential to prevent use of force and to be able to provide the right help to the residents. It also emerged that the length of the trips varied, and the residents were not told how long they were going to be away. The lack of opportunity to participate and be heard and the lack of information about content, place and length amplify the impression of the trips being forced. The section manager at Skjerfheim had the overall responsibility for use-of-force decisions and records, following up the residents’ complaints and cooperating with the supervisory authorities. The administration’s strategy was that the use of force should always be discussed in the staff group. The staff also confirmed this. Although the staff and administration at Skjerfheim appeared to have reflected on and discussed the use of coercion, this was not as well reflected in all of the use-of-force records we were presented. A review of the records showed that the use-of-force decisions and record keeping had several weaknesses as regards justification, completion and dating. Among other things, the decisions relating to “detoxtrips” generally lacked adequate descriptions and grounds. This made it difficult to see whether the conditions in Section 22 of the Rights Regulations were met. NORWEGIAN PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMAN National Preventive Mechanism ANNUAL REPORT 2018