Most Swedish councils fall short on checks before children enter care
Most Swedish councils do not fully meet their duty to check homes and providers before placing children in care, a national inspection has found. The shortcomings affect 203 of the 303 municipalities and city districts reviewed.
The IVO report, published on Tuesday, examines child-protection work during 2024–2026. IVO, Sweden’s health and social-care inspectorate, found deficiencies of some kind in 295 of the authorities.
The checks covered reports that a child may need protection, vetting before placements, follow-up of children in care and councils’ own quality controls. Stockholm and Gothenburg districts count separately in the figures.
Inspectors found that protection and support needs were not always investigated quickly enough. Checks of foster homes and private providers could be inadequate, and children did not always get sufficient opportunity to express their views.
The findings vary in seriousness and extent. They identify weaknesses in safeguards, rather than establish that every placement was unsafe.
All affected authorities have reported measures already taken or planned. IVO says these offer a basis for improvement and will follow their work.
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