Statistical presentation

Data description

The statistics on supportive measures are published annually and present information on relief measures granted by Danish municipalities to children, youth, and families in need of special support. These measures, as presented in the statistics, are granted pursuant to specific sections of the Act on Social Services, Child's Act and the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Act. The statistics provide data on the number of measures, the number of recipients, and the number of initiated measures in a given reference year. The data are classified by region, municipality, type of measure, age, and sex. An occurrence register is also published and is available to scientists and ministries.

From 2024, information on productions numbers (p-numbers) and department UUIDs is available for services provided at residential facilities that are required to be listed in Tilbudsportalen, in accordance with the Act on Social Supervision. With the implementation of the Child's Act, ongoing measures continue under legal basis of the original decision. They will only transition to the Child Act when a new decision is made based on section 213 of the Child act. As a part of the transition to the Child's Act on January 1st 2024, all legal references have been updated accordingly. Additionally, data is now being collected for four new legal provisions (§ 53 (1-2) and § 54 (1-2)).

The data are distributed and published in four statistical tables, titled ISBU01-ISBU04. These tables present persons (aged 0-22 years) who are included in Statistics Denmark's accumulated registry of children and youth who have received one or several supportive measures.

Additionally, data on measures and support are published in two statistical tables, BU43 and BU04A, which contain data on the placements of children and young people in out-of-home care. Statistical documentation regarding the statistics on placements of children and youth in out-of-home care can be found here.

A child or young person can receive several measures simultaneously and may appear as both receiving one or several preventive measures and being placed in out-of-home care at the same time. However, such cases will be counted as only one case in the summary of total figures of children and young people receiving preventive measures. It is important to note that in the tables ISBU02, BU43, and BU04A, which present the number of recipients of supportive measures, a child or youth who receives a measure in multiple municipalities will be counted/listed in all of the involved municipalities, while appearing only once in the national total figures.
For age specifications, the age is calculated as of the end of the year.

Furthermore, the statistical table BU28 is published in connection with these statistics. This table contains data on public net expenditures related to support measures granted to children and young people. The data are derived from the accounts of municipalities and are presented annually according to municipal price and wage development. The expenditures are classified by the following functional levels: Special day-care offers and special clubs (5.25.17), Places, etc., for children and youth (5.28.20), Foster care (5.28.22), Preventive measures for children and youth (5.28.21), 24-hour care centers for children and youth (5.28.23), Secured 24-hour care centers for children and youth (5.28.24) and Decisions pursuant to the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Act (5.28.26). For more information on the statistics regarding the budgets and accounts of municipalities and regions, see Statistikdokumentation.

Classification system

These statistics are grouped geographically by Regions, Provinces and Municipalities.

Additionally, the data are distributed by sex and age groups. In the statistical tables ISBU04 and BU04A, the following age groups are presented: 0-5 years, 6-11 years, 12-17 years, and 18 years or older. In BU43, the age groups are 0-17 years and 18-22 years.

Furthermore, the presented preventive measures are categorized based on specific sections and subsections of the Consolidation Act on Social Services and the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Act. These are grouped under the following categories:

Early preventive measures granted on the basis of the Social Service Act / Child's Act (SSA § 11, stk. 3, 4, 6-8 / CA § 30, stk. 1; § 31; § 35, stk. 1, 3 and§ 81, stk. 1, 4)

Preventive measures granted on the basis of the Social Service Act / Child's Act (SSA § 52, stk. 3, nr. 1-6, 8-9; § 52 a, stk. 1; § 54; § 54 a; § 55, stk. 2; § 57 a – 57 c and § 76, stk. 2, stk. 3, nr. 2-4, stk. 5-6, stk. 8 / CA § 32, stk. 1; § 35, stk. 4; § 38 , stk. 1; § 39, stk. 1; §45, stk. 3; § 53, stk. 1-2; § 54, stk. 1-2; § 75; § 114, stk. 1, nr. 2-4; § 114, stk. 2; § 115; § 118; §127 and § 130)

Preventive measures granted pursuant to the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Act (Act on Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency: § 12 and § 13, stk. 1)

Note: SSA= Social Service Act, CA= Child's Act.

Sector coverage

Not relevant for these statistics.

Statistical concepts and definitions

Supportive measure: Social support provided in the child’s or young person’s own environment, either as specific actions or financial assistance, offered to children, young people and their families. For example, the support may aim to prevent out-of-home placement.

Recipient (Children and young persons with preventive measures): The child or young person who is the subject of the supportive measure. The measure may also include support for the whole family.

Administrative municipality: The municipality obligated to provide assistance or support, pursuant to regulations on special support for children and youth, as formulated in the Danish Consolidation Act on Social Services, the Child Act or the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Act.

Statistical unit

Active supportive measures and initiated supportive measures for persons (0-22 years) in a given reference year.

Active supportive measures as of December 31st of the reference year.

Recipients of supportive measures.

Statistical population

Children and youth aged 0-22 years who are recipients of supportive measures granted pursuant to the Consolidation Act on Social Services, Child's Act or the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Act.

Reference area

Denmark

Time coverage

The statistics cover the period from 2013 onwards. With each release, the tables are updated for the last 4 years, in addition to the new year.

Base period

Not relevant for these statistics.

Unit of measure

Multiple measurement units are used in the compilation of the indicators, including:

• Number of recipients
• Number of measures
• Percentage
• Share in percent.
• Expenditures calculated in DKK million

Reference period

Calendar year and the 31th of December of the reference year.

Frequency of dissemination

Yearly.

Legal acts and other agreements

Section 6 of the Act on Statistics Denmark. In addition, specific announcements relating to the individual registers used for the formation of the indicators. The statistics are not subject to EU regulation. Data reporting is based on §82 and §84 of the Consolidation Act on Legal Protection and Administration in Social Matters. Data reporting and collection are also regulated by current Executive Order on Data Transmission in the Social Policy Area.

These statistics are not EU regulated.

Cost and burden

These statistics primarily rely on administrative data derived from the IT systems of the municipalities. As a result, there is no direct reporting burden for municipalities that use systems capable of automatically transmitting data to Statistics Denmark. However, for municipalities that supplement their records with manual reports, there is an estimated reporting burden. Data are reported by providers such as KOMBIT and KMD.

All municipalities experience a level of workload associated with the annual process of data validation.

Comment

For more information, see the webpage of the statistics, Disadvantaged children and young people, or by contacting Statistics Denmark directly.