City Council apologizes to children who were placed at Thorvaldsens Association Nursery
The City Council approved a resolution today apologizing to those who were placed as children at Thorvaldsens Association Nursery from 1974 to 1979 and their families for the treatment described in the Nursery Committee report.
The complete resolution reads as follows:
The City Council apologizes to all those who were placed as children at Thorvaldsens Association Nursery from 1974 to 1979 and their families for the treatment of the children described in the Nursery Committee report. Although children at the residential nursery were not subjected to mistreatment in the legal sense, certain aspects of the children's treatment were inadequate. This includes failing to address children's special needs through specialized care or assessments, such as those who were disabled, older children, and those who came from particularly difficult circumstances or were frequently placed. There are examples of a child being placed at the residential nursery for four years, and the oldest child placed was 15 years old.
The outcomes for children who lived in the residential nurseries are striking. Of the 149 children who stayed at the residential nursery for one month or longer, 60 are registered as disabled, or 40.3%, compared to 20% among their peers. The mortality rate is also significantly higher among people who lived in residential nurseries as children at 13.4% compared to only 4.8% among their peers.
The City Council thanks the Nursery Committee for its comprehensive, thorough, and well-documented report. The City Council is also grateful to those who advocated for commissioning both reports on residential nurseries: Árni H. Kristjánsson, Fjölnir Geir Bragason, Hrafn Jökulsson, Tómas V. Albertsson and Viðar Eggertsson. Two of these honorable men have passed away.
The City Council fully supports the Nursery Committee's recommendations and their implementation is already underway, including Reykjavík City providing free mental health and psychological services to former nursery residents, as was done when the previous nursery report was published in 2023.
The City Council also urges the Ministry of Justice to complete a bill on compensation as soon as possible to clarify a path toward financial compensation for individuals who were placed at Hlíðarendi Nursery and Thorvaldsens Association Nursery.
