Nursery Committee (1949-1973)

Illustration of people working and talking at a table.

On March 10, 2022, the City Executive Council approved the establishment of a committee of three independent experts to conduct a comprehensive review of Hlíðarendi Nursery and the Thorvaldsens Association's Nursery that were operating in Reykjavík in the last century from 1949-1973.

Reykjavík City arranges mental health and psychological services for nursery children

Reykjavík City has contracted with Kvíðameðferðarstöðin (Anxiety Treatment Center) and Líf og sál, a psychology and counseling office, for services to individuals who stayed at the Hlíðarendi nursery and the Thorvaldsens Association Nursery. This service starts on Thursday, November 9, at 10am.

This is one of the actions approved by the City Executive Council following the release of a report on the operations of nurseries in Reykjavík from 1949 to 1973. Nursery children can request the service by calling Reykjavík City at 411-1400 and indicating that their matter concerns nurseries, or by emailing voggustofur@reykjavik.is, which is monitored by a Reykjavík City employee.

Once nursery stay has been confirmed, a Reykjavík City employee will send necessary contact information about the individual to the contracted psychology office. The psychology office will manage all subsequent communication. During the intake interview, the office will assess each individual's service needs and refer to appropriate emergency services or other healthcare services if needed. Reykjavík City will pay for up to 10 sessions for each individual.

The psychology offices are responsible for providing the service efficiently and for prioritizing individuals on waiting lists to keep the wait time for service to an absolute minimum. It is recommended that a team of psychologists with broad knowledge provide the service to ensure that individuals receive appropriate care and that former nursery children have the option to meet with a psychologist of the same sex if desired. Treatment is expected to be based on evidence-based methods and clinical guidelines.

Comprehensive review committee for the operation of the nursery at Hlíðarendi and the Thorvaldsens Association's Nursery.

On March 10, 2022, the City Executive Council approved the establishment of a committee of three independent experts to conduct a comprehensive review of Hlíðarendi Nursery and the Thorvaldsens Association's Nursery that were operating in Reykjavík in the last century.

Alþingi adopted Act No. 45/2022, granting authority to Reykjavík City to appoint a committee to investigate the operation of nurseries for children that were operating in Reykjavík in the last century. The committee must be independent and impartial in its work.

Committee Members

Specific qualifications of committee members follow the same rules outlined in Article 3 of the Administrative Procedures Act No. 37/1993. Committee members must submit a record of their coincidence of interest as per Reykjavík City’s rules on the registration of interests for public officials.

On July 21, 2022, the City Executive Council appointed the following individuals to the committee:

  • Kjartan Björgvinsson, District Judge, Chair
  • Urður Njarðvík, Professor of Child Psychology
  • Ellý Þorsteinsdóttir, Social Worker

The committee is authorized to appoint a clerk. The committee may request assistance and information from parties within and outside Reykjavík City's system of governance regarding specific aspects of the investigation.

In accordance with Article 3 of Act No. 45/2022, the committee will have unrestricted access to all records in government custody concerning the operation of the nurseries covered by the Act. This includes data that contain general and sensitive personal information. If requested by the committee, authorities should compile written reports on individual aspects of the investigation.

Goals and main tasks

  1. To describe the operations of the nurseries, their role in child protection and/or education, and the circumstances under which children were accommodated there during the period in question.
     
  2. To endeavor to the best extent possible to verify if and to what extent children residing at the institution suffered abuse or violence during their stay.
     
  3. To describe how Reykjavík City's and the State's oversight of nurseries was conducted.
     
  4. To describe other issues related to the operation of nurseries and which the committee believes require examination, including, as far as possible, the consequences for those children who stayed in the nurseries after the end of their stay.
     
  5. The committee should submit a report on its work to the City Executive Council.
     
  6. To lay the groundwork for proposals to the City Executive Council on further responses if deemed necessary.

The committee's meetings are to be closed.

Committee members and its clerk are bound by confidentiality regarding any individual's private life about which they obtain information during the committee's work. The confidentiality of such matters persists after the end of the committee's work.

The committee's chair is allowed to provide general information about the committee's work and procedures while it is in progress.

Various resolutions

 

Updated in October 2023*

Investigation into nurseries

An independent and impartial committee appointed by Reykjavík City presented their findings on the operation of nurseries managed in Reykjavík from 1949 to 1973 to the City Executive Council on Thursday, October 5, 2023. The Committee's report was then introduced at a press conference at Reykjavík City Hall the same day. Chair of the Committee, Kjartan Björgvinsson, discussed the findings alongside psychology professor Urður Njarðvík and social worker Ellý Þorsteinsdóttir, who were also members of the Committee.

The Committee concluded that children had experienced mistreatment at the Hlíðarendi nursery during various periods from 1949 to 1963. Children also faced mistreatment various cases at the Thorvaldsens Association nursery from 1963 to 1967.

Parental and family bonds disrupted

A total of 1,083 children were placed in the nurseries from 1949 to 1973. According to written records and testimonies from former staff members, the Nursery Committee found that parents were generally prevented from interacting with their children while they were in the nurseries, whether it was to hold them or touch them in other ways. Parents were usually only allowed to see their children through glass, a rule that applied regardless of the reason why a child was placed in the nursery.

These practices severed children's bonds with their parents and, in some cases, siblings, for very extensive periods without providing the children with personal care capable of mitigating the harmful effects of separation from parents or other caregivers. The Committee believes such practices, considering other conditions at the nursery, amounted to mistreatment as defined by law. The Committee particularly noted the children's age and the devastating consequences that a lack of bonding with caregivers, as well as a lack of stimulation and sensory input, can have on a child's health and development. The Committee emphasized that these issues were well-known among professionals in child services at the time the nurseries were operating.

Operations not always in compliance with laws

The Committee also believes that oversight of the nurseries was negligible during the period under review. Furthermore, the Committee found that the proceedings of Reykjavík's Child Protection Committee often did not comply with laws when children were placed in the nurseries.

Fates of the children

The Committee also examined the fates of the children who were placed in the nurseries. The report provides information on how many children were placed in other institutions and/or went into foster care. Additionally, it includes information on mortality and disability rates among the group.

Nursery Committee (1974-1979)