The Social Care Committee in Hudiksvall Municipality is criticised for turning over the right to decide which school a child in care should attend to the foster home without legal grounds for doing so

Summary of the decision: A child was taken into care pursuant to the Swedish Care of Young Persons (Special Provisions) Act (SFS 1990:52) and placed in a foster home. When the child was due to start school, the committee left it to the foster home to decide which school the child should attend.

Pursuant to Section 11 of the Care of Young Persons (Special Provisions) Act, the committee, or the person charged by the committee with the care of the child, shall make the decisions on the child’s personal circumstances that are necessary to provide care. This implies that on matters of no significance to providing care, the right to decide rests solely with the child’s parents/ guardians.

While the Parliamentary Ombudsman concedes that choice of school is a matter related to the personal circumstances referred to in the provision, in this case the committee declared that the matter of choice of school was of no significance to providing the child with care. The Parliamentary Ombudsman states that there are thus no legal grounds for the committee, or the foster home, to decide which school the child should attend. Rather, this was a matter for the child’s parents/guardians to decide. The Parliamentary Ombudsman therefore criticises the committee for turning over the decision on where the child should go to school to the foster home, and for failing to involve the parents/guardians in the decision.