DinSide - Children and young people's digital gateway to information about the Children's Act

You have the right to help if you need it

Are you under 18, and is there something in your everyday life that makes you feel bad? Are you sad or scared a lot of the time? Do you think that the adults at home, for example, drink too much alcohol? Or are you, or someone close to you, being beaten? Then you can get help.

If you do not feel that you can get help from the adults who are close to you, there are some adults in your municipality who work to help children and young people who are having a hard time. They are adults who must listen to you and whom you can call or write to if you need help.

All children and young people have rights – and the right to help if they need it. The law of the child

What is a municipality?

Denmark is divided into 98 areas which are called municipalities. Each municipality has its own team of employees who work to keep track of things like schools, roads and waste, but they also help children and young people who are having a hard time. Here it is important to remember that only those who work in your municipality can and must help you.

So if you need help, it's best to talk to them in your own municipality.

What can you get help for in the municipality?

If adults in your family, at school or others you know cannot or will not help you, there are adults in your municipality who are ready to help. They will find out what you need.

There are many reasons why you might need help.

It can be if you feel unsafe at home, are sad a lot of the time, or if there is violence or arguments at home. It may also be that the adults are not good at looking after you, or that you feel alone with your problems. Sometimes the problems are too big for you to handle on your own.

We are here to find out if you and your family need help to get better. If you need to change something in your everyday life, you can talk to us about it.

You can't decide everything yourself, but you can tell us how you want it. All families are different, so the help we provide may differ. Maybe you need someone who can help you with what is difficult. Or maybe you need to talk to a psychologist if you're not feeling well. Sometimes the whole family needs help, and then we can send a family therapist.

What are my rights?

There is a law on children and young people in Denmark. It is called the child's law.

It states that the adults from the municipality HAS find out if they can help you if you ask or if someone is concerned about how you are doing. You therefore have the right to help if you need it. For example, you have the right to live in a safe home and attend a school where you do not experience bullying or discrimination. And you have the right to be heard. This does not mean that you can always decide - but your opinion must count.

Do I have to say my name and will my parents know if I call or write?

When you call, write or visit us in the municipality, you don't have to tell us your name or where you live if you don't want to. This means that you can be anonymous. However, if we think that you are having such a difficult time that you need help right now, or if you or someone close to you is in danger, we may need to know your name. If this happens, you need to tell us who you are in order for us to help you. And here it may be that we also have to inform your parents.

What happens if the phone is not answered when I call?

Like shops, we are open at some times and closed at other times. If you feel that you need help so much that it cannot wait until the next day, for example if you are beaten, you can call the police on 114. They will find out if they can help you. And remember, if you are in danger or have thoughts of harming yourself, you must always call the Emergency Center on 112 immediately.

Who answers the phone if I call

When you contact us, you will mostly be speaking to a child and youth adviser. a child and youth counselor is someone who gives advice and knows a lot about how to solve problems like yours. They work to provide help for children or families who are not well. Sometimes they are also called case managers or social workers.

This is how it happens when you call the municipality:
In Sønderborg Municipality, the child and youth counselor is ready to answer the phone when it rings. The children's counselor is called Line here and she is the one who answers the phone:

Line: "Hello, you are talking to Line from Sønderborg Municipality. Who am i talking to?"

Frederick: "Hello, it's Frederik."

Line: "Hello Frederik. Would you like to tell me a little bit about why you are calling?”

Frederick: “My father drinks a lot of alcohol. Sometimes he drives away without saying so and doesn't come home until a long time later, when he is drunk. My mother and father shout at each other a lot. I can sometimes hear my mother crying when I have gone to bed and am going to sleep. I'm really sad because I rarely feel like I'm with my 'real' father. Sometimes he falls and hits himself when we are out. It is embarrassing. I don't quite know what to do.”

Line: “Thank you for telling me, Frederik. I can understand that you are having a hard time! May I hear a little more about your mother? Have you talked to her or other adults you are close to about your father?”

Frederick: “I don't feel like I can talk to her about it. She is at work and at home she has to do everything. I don't want to be a bother and give her more trouble. My little sister needs my mother the most.”

Line: “You sound like a thoughtful boy who takes good care of your family. But it is also important that you feel good and not to worry. Have you told the things you are telling me to another adult?”

Frederick: "No not really. I think it's a bit embarrassing.”

Line: “Thank you for your honesty, Frederik. I would like to invite you and your parents to an interview with me or one of the others who work here in the municipality. It is really important that we talk to your parents about what you think is difficult, so that you can feel better. If you are most comfortable coming here with your mother for a start, we will do that, but we will also need to talk to your sheep."

What happens when I have spoken or written to you?

After you have spoken or written to us, you may be told that we need to know more about you and your situation to find out if we can help you. You may also need to talk to some others. But what actually happens in such a situation?

1) You can come to a physical meeting with the municipality

At the meeting, the child and youth counselor will ask how you are feeling. You may be asked how you are doing at home and at school. The counselor asks because he/she wants to find out what works well and badly in your life - and how you can get the help that suits you. The meeting takes place either in a room at the municipality or another place you know well. The first time you meet the counselor, you may want to bring your mother and father with you. It may also be that you have another adult with you to the meeting, or that you speak to the counselor alone.

2) The adviser finds out how you can get help
The child and youth counselor collects all the information that tells how you feel. She does this by talking to you and your family. Perhaps the adviser also holds a network meeting. At such a meeting, some of the adults who know you gather. It could be your teacher or coach.
Sometimes the counselor needs to investigate your situation even more, where he/she might talk to a child psychologist.
But in the end, one of the adviser's most important tasks is to find out what YOU think should happen. So your opinion MUST count
the decision about the help you need.

3) You get the help that suits you
Perhaps the child and youth counselor decides that you do not need help, or that you and your parents can handle it yourself.
It may also be that you get a contact person who can help you in everyday life. Other times you or your family need to talk to a psychologist.
If it is really difficult at home, you may have to live with someone else for a period of time. It can either be your grandparents or someone else you know well. It can also be a foster family. If that happens, you can still see your parents if you want to and if it's good for you.

It may also be that the counselor suggests that you talk to a good friend, your parents, Children's Telephone or any other telephone counseling that suits your problems.

The difficult words that are good to know - dictionary

municipalities
Denmark is divided into 98 areas, called municipalities. In every municipality there are employees who work to ensure that things work. Employees from the municipality are responsible, among other things, for schools, roads and waste, but also for helping children and young people who are not well.

According to the law, the adults working in the Family Department must investigate if someone is concerned about how a child or young person is doing. They must find out whether the child or young person needs help, and they must help if it is needed.

Child and youth counselor
The people in the municipality who work to provide help for children or families who are not well are called child and youth counsellors. Sometimes they are also called social workers, counselors or case managers.

Sidekicks
When you attend a meeting with the municipality, you always have the right to have a "side sitter" with you. A co-sitter is someone who can help and support you at the meetings. A sitter must be over 15 years old, and it is you who decides whether you want a sitter and also who it should be. This could be, for example, a teacher or a family member. You can also get a professional helper, e.g. through BørneTelefonen.

A case
You can "have a case" in the municipality. This is what you call it when the child and youth counselor from the municipality monitors how a child or young person is doing. What the adviser finds out and what they write down is also called "a case". That is, papers or files on a computer with notes on what different people have said, minutes of meetings or decisions that have been made. Such a case can also be called a journal.

Right
As a child and young person, you have rights if you have a case in the municipality. For example, you have the right to be asked what you think. It is also a right to have an assistant attend the meetings. You also have the right to see your own case. This is called the right to access documents. You can see more about your rights in the videos here or at Children's Telephone.

Involvement
Being involved means that you have to be asked - and that your opinion has to count. If a child and youth counselor is to find out how a child or young person is feeling, he or she must talk to the child or young person and listen to what is being said. It is also called that the child or young person has the right to be heard. This does not mean that as a child or young person you can always decide for yourself, but that someone must always be listened to.

Reports of negligence
A notification is when someone has written or called the municipality to say that they are concerned about how a child or young person is doing. It could, for example, be a teacher who made the notification, but it could also be a family member or a neighbour. In Denmark, all adults have a duty to notify the municipality if they are concerned that a child or young person is not feeling well.

Ground floor
The people a case is about are called parties. The parties in a case are almost always the child or young person and the adults at home. The child and youth counselor can always answer who the parties are in a case.

Screening, screening and pediatric examination
If a counselor has to investigate how a child or young person is doing, it takes place in several steps. It starts with a screening, where the child and youth counselor looks at the information found in the case and perhaps talks to the child or young person and his or her parents. Here, the adviser tries to find out if there is anything that needs to be investigated further. If there is, the adviser makes a hedge. The counselor may then hold a network meeting with some of the adults who know the child or young person and the parents. The counselor also talks more with the child or young person. If there is a need to investigate more about how the child is doing, it is called a pediatric examination. The counselor then spends more time talking to the adults who know the child or young person.

Network meeting
At a network meeting, the child and youth counselor meets with some of the adults who know the child or young person. These are, for example, family members, teachers from the school or university and pedagogues from the leisure or youth club. Sometimes the child or young person will also attend the meeting together with their companion.

Effort
Efforts is a common word for the help that a municipality can decide to give to a child, a young person or a family. An effort can, for example, be hours with a psychologist or a contact person. It depends on what the child and youth counselor considers to be the best help.

Decision
Some of the decisions that the counselor makes about how a child or young person should be helped are called "decisions". It is, for example, a "decision" if a child or young person must have a contact person. Decisions can be appealed. The child and youth counselor can always answer whether something is a decision.

The child's plan/youth plan
Once the child and youth counselor has found out what help the child or young person needs, the counselor draws up a plan with clear goals for what needs to be improved - and how it needs to happen. You have the right to tell what you think you need. And the plan is often made together with you and the adults you live with.

Follow-up on efforts
When the child and youth counselor has found out what help you need, the counselor must check several times how things are going with you and the plan you have made together. Maybe it means that you change the plan to make it work better. Here, the advisor must listen to your wishes and needs.

Where can I find more information about how the municipality can help me - and how?

If you would like to know more about what it means to have a case in the municipality, who you meet or what rights you have, you can You can watch some short films here on the subjects on Youtube

There are also others who can help you

Who is the Children's Telephone?

BørneTelefonen is YOUR line for advice, comfort or just an adult who has time to listen.

Every day, all year round, our volunteer counselors sit on the Children's Telephone line ready to listen and advise children and young people in Denmark about their problems, big and small.

What is Cyberhus?

Cyberhus is aimed at children and young people aged 9-25

You can contact us with thoughts and questions about everything from sexuality, puberty and love to self-harm, suicidal thoughts and abuse. So we can talk about exactly what is right for you.

We always want to listen, and with our words we can try to support and advise. If more help is needed, we will try to find out who, where and how the help can be found. It can be elsewhere on the web or offline.

Cyberhus only exists online, and all the advice we can offer is therefore only available online

Contact us

Opening hours:

Mon-Wed: 8-15
Thursday: 8 pm - 17 pm
Friday: 8 am - 14 pm

E-mail: modtagelsen@sonderborg.dk

Tlf. nr.: 27 90 42 42

Efter kl. 16, og i weekenden - kontakt politiet på 114