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Foster care: contact and follow-up
Draft, translated: translated from the Norwegian original with the help of a language model, and may contain errors. The Norwegian version is the authoritative one. See the Norwegian original →
After a care order, children and parents generally have the right to contact with each other. How it is decided, and how the child is followed up in foster care.
Norwegian original last checked against official sources: 22 September 2026. Rules and deadlines change, so always check the official site before you act.
If a child moves to a foster home after a care order, this does not change the fact that the child and parents generally have the right to see each other. This guide is about contact, and about how the child welfare service follows up the child in foster care.
The right to contact
Children and parents have the right to contact with each other, unless otherwise decided. It is the Child Welfare and Health Board that sets the extent of contact in the care order decision, and which can set conditions, for example that someone from the child welfare service is present (supervision).
Others who have had care of the child, or who have a particularly close connection to the child, can also ask the Board to assess contact.
When contact can be strongly limited
In cases with strong and special reasons, the Board can decide that contact should be strongly limited, or fall away entirely. Under the same strict conditions, the Board can also decide that the parents should not be told where the child lives.
Do you disagree with the contact arrangement?
Private parties generally cannot demand that a contact case be reconsidered until 18 months have passed since the previous final decision, unless there have been significant changes in the situation.
How is contact carried out?
Contact must take place in safe and suitable surroundings, not necessarily at home. The child welfare service plans together with the foster home who will be present. Foster parents or institution staff can be present as caregivers, without this being the same as supervision, which only happens when the Board has decided it.
Follow-up of the child in foster care
The child welfare service in the municipality that has care of the child must follow up both the child and the foster family. The general rule is at least four visits to the foster home per year. The visits must take place where the child lives, and the child must get to speak freely without the foster parents present.
If the child has lived in the foster home for more than two years, and the conditions are assessed as good, the number of visits can be reduced to at least two per year, but only after the child and foster parents have had the chance to give their opinion on it.
Tip: Write down how contact actually works in practice, both what goes well and what is difficult. This is useful documentation both for you and for the child welfare service, whichever side of the case you are on.
Child Welfare Act, Chapter 7, contact (Lovdata, Norwegian) →
Sources
- Child Welfare Act, Chapter 7, contact (Lovdata, Norwegian)
- Bufdir. Contact, guideline for carrying out contact after a care order (Norwegian)
- Regulations on foster homes, Chapter 3 (Lovdata, Norwegian)
Kontaktpunkt24 gives general information, not legal advice. If you need help with your own case, contact a lawyer, a legal aid service, or the relevant authority.
This page is translated from Norwegian with the help of a language model, and may contain errors. The Norwegian version is always the authoritative one.