Family counselling service, 2006

The family counselling offices dealt with 29 584 cases in 2006, a small increase from previous years. The national child welfare and family counselling service spent more than NOK 266 million on family counselling in 2006, or NOK 9 000 per case. There are some differences between regions. For instance, Region South and East spent approximately NOK 8 400 per case and Region West NOK 10 600.

Couple-related issues main reason for enquiry

In more than half of the cases dealt with in 2006, the primary client reported that couple-related issues were the main reason for the enquiry. This corresponds well with the figure showing that couple counselling was the main measure taken in the 23 000 cases that were closed in 2005.

For most of the 22 400 new cases in 2006, the first session was held within a month after the primary client contacted the family counselling service. The average treatment time after the first session was 116 days for the cases that were closed in 2006.

Mediation

The family counselling offices are the core unit in the Norwegian mediation service, and meditation is a major task in the family counselling service. In 2006, the family counselling offices carried out approximately 8 500 mediations, 64 per cent of all mediations accomplished in Norway in 2006. External mediators conducted the other 36 per cent. There were a total of 13 300 mediations in 2006, a decrease of 2 per cent from the previous year.

Employment

In 2006, the number of man-years in the family counselling service was 387, a small decrease from 2005. A comparison of the number of family counselling positions and inhabitants per county, shows that Region North had slightly more than 1.3 positions per 10 000 inhabitants, whereas Region West had 0.6 positions per 10 000 inhabitants.

Tables:

• Table 1 Family counselling services, new cases, by reason for inquiry, region, county and office. 2006
• Table 2 Family counselling services, new cases by period of waiting, region, county and office. 2006
• Table 3 Family counselling services, closed cases, by duration, region, county and office. 2006
• Table 4 Family counselling services, counselling sessions, by region, county and office. 2006
• Table 5 Family counselling services, by status per 31 December 2006, region, county and office. 2006
• Table 6 Family counselling services, by main actions in the counselling, region, county and office. 2006
• Table 7 Family counselling services, by man-hours spent on counselling sessions, region, county and office. 2006
• Table 8 Number of meditations, by mediation authority and county. 2006
• Table 9 Time from mediation application to first session, by county. 2006
• Table 10 Time from mediation application to mediation certificate given, by county. 2006
• Table 11 Mediation with certificate, by sessions and county. 2006
• Table 12 Key figures national family counselling service. Figures for 2005 and 2006
• Table 13 Figures national family counselling service. Figures for 2006
• Table 14 Mediations. Figures for 2006