A new analysis focuses on the placement of children and young people outside the home, as well as the expenses associated with the effort.
The analysis was prepared by the auditing firm Deloitte for the Government of Greenland, and among the main conclusions is an overview of the state of the area based on data from 2024.
Here, Deloitte concludes that almost 5 percent of the inhabitants of Greenland between the ages of 0 and 23 were placed outside the home in 2024; for the whole year or parts of it.
- This corresponds to 935 children and young people. In Denmark, it is approx. 1 percent. of the target group, the analysis states.
Deloitte states that it has been difficult and time-consuming to establish a true knowledge base, and that "a strengthened data base in the field of placement is a first and important step towards a strengthened effort."
Rising expenses
The number of placements itself has increased by 6 percent since 2020, and expenses have increased sharply since 2018:
- Expenses in the field of placement have increased by almost 50 percent from 2018 to 2024, writes Deloitte.
In kroner and øre, 687 million DKK was spent in 2024, which according to Deloitte corresponds to almost 3 percent of the gross domestic product - or approximately DKK 38,500 per 0-23-year-old.
- This is more than twice as much as the expenses per citizen in the target group in Denmark; even if the costs of preventive measures are included for Denmark, the report states.
According to the analysis, it is primarily costs for independent institutions that explain the overall increase in costs from 2018 to 2024.
- During this period, costs for independent institutions have increased by over 80 percent. Since 2021, costs for family care have been relatively stable and have shown a slight downward trend, writes Deloitte, which emphasizes that family care is significantly cheaper than placement in a residential institution.
Recommendation: Make it more attractive to become a foster family
The analysis comes with a long list of recommendations for politicians, and among them is first and foremost to make things better for the country's foster families and to make the profession more attractive.
Partly, it is a cheaper form of placement, and partly, according to Deloitte, studies indicate that children placed in foster families thrive better.
The conditions of foster families can be improved in several ways, for example by increasing financial compensation and providing foster families with more education, so that they are better equipped to handle the issues that foster children bring.
The analysis also mentions foster families' access to suitable housing that enables the expansion of the family with one or more foster children.
The entire analysis of the area can be read on the Naalakkersuisut website.
