Adoption from care, the reunification principle and consensual placements: the political promotion of a controversial child protection measure in Sweden

Swedish child welfare policies have traditionally been family-centred, and great importance has been placed on consensual measures and the reunification of children in care with their birth families. Adoptions of children from care are rare. Thus, when the government commissioned the Swedish Board of Health and Welfare (NBHW) to improve social services' knowledge about adoption, it seemed to indicate an ideological shift in Swedish child protection policies. For over a year, we documented the activities of the working group at the NBHW as they tried to mediate between what they interpreted as a political attempt to promote adoption on the one hand and social services' reluctant stance towards adoption on the other. We identified three main challenges in this task: (i) the handling of the commission's ideological premises, (ii) the question of what kind of knowledge about adoption should be disseminated to social services, and (iii) the question of what knowledge is relevant for social services. The article uses theories of metagovernance to show how the NBHW dealt with these challenges by reframing the commision's premises, adapting the message and by balancing the objectives of addressing the issues social services identified as relevant and of fulfilling its remit. Svensk barnav & aring;rdslagstiftning har en tradition av att vara familjeorienterad och stor vikt har lagts vid frivilliga l & ouml;sningar och & aring;terf & ouml;rening av barnen med deras ursprungsfamiljer. Adoptioner av placerade barn & auml;r s & auml;llsynta. D & auml;rf & ouml;r tycktes det vittna om ett ideologiskt skifte i svensk barnav & aring;rdspolitik n & auml;r regeringen gav Socialstyrelsen i uppdrag att & ouml;ka socialtj & auml;nstens kunskap om nationell adoption. Under mer & auml;n ett & aring;r dokumenterade vi hur en arbetsgrupp p & aring; Socialstyrelsen f & ouml;rs & ouml;kte medla mellan vad de tolkade som ett politiskt f & ouml;rs & ouml;k att f & ouml;respr & aring;ka adoption och socialtj & auml;nstens skeptiska inst & auml;llning till adoption. Vi identifierade tre huvudsakliga utmaningar f & ouml;r arbetsgruppen: (i) hanteringen av uppdragets ideologiska inriktning (ideologiska utmaningen), (ii) fr & aring;gan vilken kunskap om adoption som skulle f & ouml;rmedlas till socialtj & auml;nsten (kunskapsutmaningen) och (iii) fr & aring;gan vilken kunskap som & auml;r relevant f & ouml;r socialtj & auml;nsten (relevansutmaningen). Med hj & auml;lp av teoribildning om metastyrning visar artikeln hur Socialstyrelsen hanterade dessa utmaningar genom att omformulera uppdragets utg & aring;ngspunkt, anpassa budskapet och genom att balansera m & aring;let att uppm & auml;rksamma det socialtj & auml;nsten sj & auml;lv identifierade som relevant kunskap gentemot m & aring;let att fullg & ouml;ra sitt uppdrag.