Child welfare work involves investigating referrals to determine whether a child requires protection or support. In Sweden, the number of children referred to child welfare authorities has increased in recent years, but most children do not receive services. This article aims to enhance understanding of how child welfare representatives reason when determining client eligibility. The article is part of a longitudinal research programme following 2,123 children across eight Swedish child welfare authorities. The study draws on interviews with twenty-five unit managers and child welfare workers. To analyse the results, the study employs concepts that highlight how client eligibility is negotiated by modifying client demand, job conception, and client conception. The findings reveal that child welfare workers may modify client demand by addressing issues without providing services, modify job conception by either narrowing or broadening what is considered within the remit of child welfare, and modify client conception by focusing on motivated and receptive clients. These findings are discussed in the context of previous research and ongoing policy trends in Swedish child welfare.

  In recent decades, a new type of organisation—independent foster care agencies (IFAs)—has emerged in Sweden and other countries. These organisations operate outside the public sector, marking a significant shift in how foster care is provided. The presence of IFAs signifies the establishment of a foster care market, where responsibilities once managed by child welfare authorities are now outsourced. In this article, the position of IFAs in the Swedish foster care market is analysed. IFAs are viewed as intermediaries facilitating the provision of foster homes and often providing support to foster families. As IFAs primarily operate as for‐profit entities, they are analysed within the context of market dynamics and financial considerations in child welfare. The study is based on data from the state inspectorate, including a register of IFAs, framework agreements outlining the requirements for IFAs, and a national survey on IFAs, which includes social workers’ assessments of quality and costs. In Sweden, there were around 400 IFAs in 2024, ranging from large care corporations to small companies, frequently used by child welfare services. As for the services provided by IFAs, professionals hold mixed views, with some questioning their value for money. IFAs are an international phenomenon, and they have faced criticism for generating large profits from foster care services. The entrance of IFAs represents a form of radicalisation of the “love or money” dichotomy that has been a recurring theme in the foster care field.

Across most countries, child welfare involves complex investigative and decision-making processes to assess eligibility for services. This article analyses the sorting process from investigation to service allocation within Swedish child welfare. Data comes from a questionnaire completed by social workers, covering 2123 children across eight child welfare agencies. The findings are discussed in relation to the family service model and the legal and normative pressures it faces. Most children were filtered out without intervention; only one-third received services. The most common issues related to parental ability included abuse, domestic violence, neglect, and adult relational problems. For young children, neglect, abuse, and violence were key factors for receiving services, while for older children, behavioural problems were more prominent. However, child abuse was also common among older children. Interventions mainly focused on home-based support and were typically based on consent. We conclude that, while key elements of the Swedish family service model remain intact, it is increasingly challenged by growing referral volumes and heightened legal and normative demands, particularly concerning youth criminality and children at risk of abuse.

This article explores the expansion of the private sector labour market for social workers in Sweden and analyses social workers’ motives for choosing work as temporary agency social workers. The study draws on quantitative data from official registers and qualitative interviews with social workers who have left the social services for careers as temporary agency social workers.

The findings indicate that the vast majority of Swedish social workers continue to work in the public sector, but due to significant changes in welfare production, more social workers are finding employment in the private sector labour market. Both pull factors associated with the conditions of private sector employment and push factors linked to working conditions in the social services appear to be at play when Swedish social workers choose private alternatives.

Previous studies have revealed adverse working conditions, high turnover rates and recruitment problems in the social services. The results of this article explore the most significant push factors for opting out of social services in Sweden. Several of these factors are associated with the organisational climate and management, suggesting that they could be addressed by ensuring adequate social support and supervision. Other push factors relate to stress and overload, which are known issues in social services. All of these factors require further attention if the social services are to be competitive in the broadened labour market of social work.

In recent decades, Swedish out-of-home care has been criticised for a number of reasons. In this article, based on research and public debate, we discuss this criticism as well as the institutional responses that have been evoked. We use the concepts of risk, control and trust to structure the analysis, which outlines three core issues portrayed as problematic: a) certain principles of the Swedish child welfare system with relevance for the placement of children and adolescence, b) the quality of out-of-home care and c) the privatisation of out-of-home care and the possibility of generating profits on such services. The institutional response to the criticism has mainly been increased control measures, but the development is not uniform - trust and control-oriented responses are often combined. We conclude the article by relating Swedish out-of-home care to international child welfare trends, discussing the institutional responses and the implications for social work practice.

This article aims to alert social work researchers and practitioners to the importance of engaging in research and debate about how to approach and understand ADHD among children in general and locked-after children in care in particular. Social work researchers have largely been absent from academic discussions about the ‘ADHD epidemic’ despite the fact that the prevalence of ADHD diagnosis and medication is very high in child welfare populations. The social work profession can make important contributions to understanding a phenomenon that is common among children and adolescent clients, that is often co-morbid with other conditions such as conduct disorder and that is linked to social adversity. We argue that research on ADHD in the child welfare systems should be a top priority in social work, and outline some important questions that need to be addressed by both researchers and social workers.

Trots att förekomsten av ADHD-diagnoser och ADHD-medicin är mycket hög inom den sociala barnavården har forskare inom socialt arbete i stor utsträckning lyst med sin frånvaro i akademiska diskussioner kring ”ADHD-epidemin”. Denna artikel syftar till att uppmuntra forskare och praktiker inom socialt arbete att bidra till forskningen och debatten om hur vi ska förstå ADHD bland barn i allmänhet och samhällsplacerade barn i synnerhet. Socialt arbete som profession kan bidra med viktig förståelse av ett fenomen som är vanligt bland barn och ungdomar som är i kontakt med socialtjänsten, som ofta förekommer tillsammans med andra tillstånd och som är sammanlänkat med social utsatthet. Vi menar att forskning kring ADHD inom den sociala barnavården bör prioriteras högt och pekar på viktiga frågor som behöver adresseras av såväl forskare som praktiker.