Welfare board 'broke the law' prior to Rödeby shooting
The social welfare board in Karlskrona in southern Sweden was too passive in its relationship with the 17-year-old boy who survived the Rödeby shooting drama last autumn.
The judgment comes from the county administrative board, which issued its report on the matter on Wednesday.
The critique is directed toward the welfare board’s actions prior to the shooting, which left another youth dead and divided the community.
The welfare board failed to live up to the demands of the law on all points, according to the administrative board.
Furthermore, the welfare board wasn’t sufficiently active when it came to the boy’s “suspected criminality, problematic family relations, and his need for support and help”, the county administrative board wrote in its report.
On one point in particular, the social welfare board’s actions broke the law.
The boy lived for a time in a county-run treatment facility. The stay was ended last spring and the investigation of the boy was broken off.
Such decisions, according to the law, are to be taken in close consultation with the parents, stated the administrative board.
It was revealed after the fact that the boy’s mother disagreed with the decision.
However, the welfare board acted correctly directly after the shooting in October, when a 50-year-old man killed a 15-year-old boy and injured the 17-year-old.
The two youths, along with four other teenage boys, had come to the yard of the 50-year-old’s house outside of Rödeby in the middle of the night.
The family had previously made five reports to the police for various types of harassment, but the social welfare board never learned of the complaints.
The welfare board has defended its inaction leading up to the shooting with by pointing to the fact that it was never informed, an explanation with which the county administrative board agreed.
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The judgment comes from the county administrative board, which issued its report on the matter on Wednesday.
The critique is directed toward the welfare board’s actions prior to the shooting, which left another youth dead and divided the community.
The welfare board failed to live up to the demands of the law on all points, according to the administrative board.
Furthermore, the welfare board wasn’t sufficiently active when it came to the boy’s “suspected criminality, problematic family relations, and his need for support and help”, the county administrative board wrote in its report.
On one point in particular, the social welfare board’s actions broke the law.
The boy lived for a time in a county-run treatment facility. The stay was ended last spring and the investigation of the boy was broken off.
Such decisions, according to the law, are to be taken in close consultation with the parents, stated the administrative board.
It was revealed after the fact that the boy’s mother disagreed with the decision.
However, the welfare board acted correctly directly after the shooting in October, when a 50-year-old man killed a 15-year-old boy and injured the 17-year-old.
The two youths, along with four other teenage boys, had come to the yard of the 50-year-old’s house outside of Rödeby in the middle of the night.
The family had previously made five reports to the police for various types of harassment, but the social welfare board never learned of the complaints.
The welfare board has defended its inaction leading up to the shooting with by pointing to the fact that it was never informed, an explanation with which the county administrative board agreed.
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