child friendly house

A Scandinavian word for “children’s house”

Sometimes, Barnahus is thought to be a place where children stay, but that is seldom the case.

Barnahus works rather as a child-friendly office, under one roof, where law enforcement, criminal justice, child protective services, and medical and mental health workers cooperate and assess together the situation of the child and decide upon the follow-up.

A forensic interview and the medical examination of the child will take place, the police will investigate the situation around the alleged criminal offence and the prosecutor, judge and the lawyer of the accused will be involved. The need for short-term and long term therapeutic and family support will also be assessed. In some countries, the prosecutor will decide if it is a likely criminal offence before the child is admitted to Barnahus. In other countries, children are directly referred to Barnahus by social services or the police. If, when assessing the situation of the child, it becomes clear that the child and the family primarily need support from social services then the case will be referred to be followed up by services in the municipalities or by specialised services connected to Barnahus.

While Barnahus in Europe is inspired by the Children’s Advocacy Centres in the US, there are also distinct differences between the two approaches. The most notable differences being that the centres in the US are privately run, and children usually must be present in court.

The Icelandic Barnahus innovated on the US approach. The service was integrated into the legal and social systems of Iceland, and owned by the Government from the start. The result is a child-friendly justice approach. Instead of demanding children give their testimony in court, audio-visual recordings of forensic interviews may be used.

While the admissibility of audio-visual testimony is a key standard promoted by PROMISE, and this standard is met in many of the new services being launched across Europe, the situation among countries currently differs. Governmental ownership of the Barnahus from the beginning, as was the case in Iceland, is often a key component for meeting this standard from the start of operations.

Terre des hommes is partnering in this project, led by the Council of Baltic Sea States, in which we provide support on child participation and child safeguarding. Learn more about the initiative: https://www.barnahus.eu

0
0
News - This methodological toolbox was developed within the framework of the “JOURNEYS – Safe and Informed Journeys through Barnahus” project.  Working in partnership with each other and with children, a collective focus of the project is on the rights of child victims…
175
0
Webinar - The overall objective of the webinar is to analyze the cross-cutting elements between child safeguarding and child participation practices of children victims and witnesses in the Barnahus. The aim is to elaborate the concept of DO NO HARM and explore the potential risks…
144
0
Online library - This report explores developing the Barnahus model in Northern Ireland as a way to better support child victims of sexual abuse and ensure a higher standard of justice for all those involved in sexual offence cases where there is a child victim. Barnahus, by…
334
0
Webinar - Overview of the webinar: The overall objective of the webinar is to analyse the cross-cutting elements between child safeguarding and the steps undertaken to ensure the physical wellbeing of children victims and witnesses in the Barnahus. It will aim to…
427
0
Webinar - Overview of the webinar: The overall objective of the webinar is to analyse the cross-cutting elements between child safeguarding and mental wellbeing services provided in the Barnahus. We will explore the risks that can be encountered during the…
667
0
Webinar - Overview of the webinar: The overall objective of the webinar is to analyse the cross-cutting elements between child safeguarding and the process of case work run in the Barnahus. The webinar will explore the organisational, case management and child…
142
0
Online library - Lighthouse - the UK’s first ‘Child House’ to support children who have been victims of sexual abuse and exploitation in London, has released an interesting interactive tool. The main purpose of this tool is to provide information and advice to those who want and…
44
0
Online library - The UK Government has published guidance for local partnerships on the Child House (Barnahus) multi-agency service model of support for children and young people affected by sexual abuse. Child House (or Barnahus in EU) is a child-centred approach in which the…
110
0
Webinar - Join our virtual party to celebrate the launch of a new book written by Emma Harewood. This book tells the story of the establishment of the first UK Barnahus (Child House), The Lighthouse. It is a safe space for children and young…
9
0
Webinar - About the webinar: PROMISE 1 and 2 have provided concrete evidence of how consolidated efforts on the national and European levels can accelerate progress in building capacity, ambition and commitment to specialised interventions for child…
47
0
Webinar - About the webinar: Children and young people have a right to express their opinions on things that concern them. To facilitate Barnahus and similar setups to hear about how children experience their service, PROMISE has developed a Child Participation…
44
0
Webinar - About the webinar: There is much more to recording interviews at a Barnahus than setting up a system and hitting record. To best perform its role, a Barnahus must comply with local/international rules and regulations of evidence …
87
0
Webinar - About the webinar The second of this 2-part webinar will present concrete examples of how trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (TF-CBT) is delivered at the Barnahus, and how to ensure follow-up and long-term support for each child. The speaker…
93
0
Webinar - We are happy to announce 2-part webinar that is organized by PROMISE-2 and Child Protection Hub project! According to the Barnahus Quality Standards, a Barnahus or similar service should provide mental health services and treatment, by professionals who have specialized…
108
0
Webinar - Join us for the last in mini webinar series on forensic interviews in Barnahus on March 14th at 2pm CET done in cooperation with the PROMISE project! With reference to Barnahus Quality Standard 6, this webinar will explore how a forensic interview is conducted. In…
67
0
Webinar - The second part of our mini-webinar series on forensic interviews will be hosted in Barnahus on 7 March, at 2pm CET.  We will present strategies and approaches to meeting the individual needs of every child, and ensuring equitable access to child-friendly…
78
0
Webinar - Childhub continues the Barnahus series in 2019! In cooperation with the PROMISE project, we are organizing a mini webinar series on conducting forensic interviews with children victims and witnesses of violence. Join us for the first session on Thursday,…
53
0
Webinar - About the webinar: One criteria of the Barnahus is that a medical evaluation is carried out to ensure a victim’s right to health and to secure forensic evidence for investigative purposes. As part of its medical services, a Barnahus or similar…
40
0
Webinar - About the webinar: One criteria of the Barnahus is that a medical evaluation is carried out to ensure a victim’s right to health and to secure forensic evidence for investigative purposes. As part of its medical services, a Barnahus or similar setup should also…
103
0
Webinar - About the webinar: One criteria of the Barnahus is that a medical evaluation is carried out to ensure a victim’s right to health and to secure forensic evidence for investigative purposes. As part of its medical services, a Barnahus or similar…
56
0
Webinar - There is a range of ways to use legislation to enable the setup and success of the Barnahus. From full legislation to no legislation, having the perfect law in place is incredibly useful, yet not an absolute condition for establishing a well-functioning cooperation. With…
40
0
Webinar - Join us for a webinar on putting the child at the centre, where we will discuss ensuring an inclusive and child-friendly setup with a focus on Barnahus Quality Standards 1.2 Right to be heard and to receive information, and 4 Child Friendly Environment. The webinar…
40
0
Webinar - Join us for a webinar on putting the child at the centre, where we will discuss ensuring an inclusive and child-friendly setup with a focus on Barnahus Quality Standards 1.2 Right to be heard and to receive information, and 4 Child Friendly Environment. The webinar…
42
0
Webinar - In this webinar, a panel of experts will discuss how their formal interagency agreements were developed and what they contain. They will discuss who regulates the service and how such regulation is working. Further learnings from the processes to formally establish their…
62
0
Webinar - In our second webinar about Barnahus we will compare how Barnahus Linköping, Sweden and the Child and Youth Protection Center of Zagreb, Croatia work to achieve the Barnahus Quality Standards in their local contexts. Participants are encouraged to…
73
0
Webinar - Many countries in Europe are now moving quickly towards establishing, developing and expanding their Barnahus or similar services. As this momentum builds, the field of knowledge and experience is growing. The PROMISE Webinar Series extends an open invitation to join the…
8219
0
Multimedia - What is Barnahus? Barnahus (which literally means Children’s House) is a child-friendly, interdisciplinary and multi-agency centre for child victims and witnesses where children could be interviewed and medically examined for forensic purposes, comprehensively…