Missed opportunities? State licencing on the Swedish residential care market

Abstract

In many countries, residential care is subject to outsourcing and consequently, states are increasingly engaged in controlling activities. A central instrument is licencing; a procedure determining membership to markets. By analysing all formal applications submitted to the Swedish national Inspectorate between the years 2013-2016, the aim of the article is to describe the characteristics and influx of applicants as well as analysing how the inspectorate, conceptualised as a market agency, contributes to shape the residential care market. The findings show that applicants often are not forced to revise their care in conjunction with the licencing procedure, and slightly more than half of the applicants are granted a licence. Large companies are in general more successful than small companies, as are those presenting specialised target groups. The primary focus in licencing appears to be target group descriptions, management and ensuring the absence of methods with repressive elements. Licencing does not, or only to a limited extent, address issues such as schooling and health support, staffing levels, children's contacts with the birth family, the scientific base of methods and measurement of client outcomes. The discussion focuses on how licencing contributes to the market formation as well as care aspects omitted in the controls.

Exploring the impact of Ofsted inspections on performance in children’s social care

“…Many countries have seen an increased focus on state monitoring of child welfare provision, which may reflect the sector's political sensitivity in the context of gradual marketisation and privatisation in some areas (Jones, 2018). Regulation varies between jurisdictions, ranging from the licensing of residential care providers in Sweden (Pålsson and Shanks, 2020) to the wholesale inspection of social care services in the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (Lundy et al, 2019;Bach-Mortensen and Montgomery, 2020). In England, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial government department that inspects services providing care for children and young people, and education and training for learners of all ages.…”

Charting the 21st Century Rise of For-Profit Residential Child Care

“…State licensing-a key instrument of controlling for-profit care providers-varies greatly between countries-in terms of licensing models, as well as the extent of intervention post-license [81]. The potential of state licensing may often remain underutilized-for example, where it does not focus on major aspects of provision, such as staffing levels, a child's contacts with their biological family, schooling, and health support-and thus may currently be a missed opportunity to ensure the quality of care [82]. Performance-based contracts may also effectively incorporate various quality dimensions including those concerning safety, permanency of care, child and family wellbeing, and the educational attainment and criminal records of children and young people who are being provided with care [79].…”

Doing Human Service Ethnography

“…Marketing is often done on 'public' internet websites or at conferences and gatherings of practitioners and policymakers, sometimes hosting more than 1000 visitors even in a small country such as Finland. They also provide (non-secret) reports on licensing processes which, as documents, provide an insight into the service rationales as presented in a formal setting (Pålsson and Shanks, 2020). The marketization of child protection could, in general, provide a number of opportunities for researchers to get access to 'private' services.…”