Mapping Care: Coordination, Gaps, and Barriers in Support for Refugee Children.

Refugee children in Norway face challenges that test the welfare stateʼs commitment to social equity. They experience higher rates of mental health issues, early school leaving, and long-term marginalization, often due to migration trauma, unstable family situations, and low-income backgrounds.

While care and inclusion can mitigate these risks, systemic barriers—such as fragmented services, privacy regulations, and competing institutional priorities—often worsen their situation. Parental care is crucial but strained by post-migration stress.

Institutional support is inconsistent, and recent policy changes have further weakened safety nets, especially for unaccompanied minors and children under temporary protection.

Mapping Care examines coordination gaps in care provision for refugee children and explores innovative cross- sectoral collaboration. Care extends beyond immediate needs—it requires ongoing coordination among caregivers, shaped by legal and policy frameworks.

By adopting an ecosystem perspective, Mapping Care highlights the co- production of care by public institutions, NGOs, local communities, and informal networks. Using a participatory, action-oriented approach, the project engages service providers, caregivers, and refugee children to ground findings in real-world experiences and develop tools for collaboration. It advances discussions on care ethics, trauma-informed practices, and coordinated service models in refugee studies.

Applying ignorance theories, it uncovers systemic blind spots in governance and service provision, exploring how care can be more responsive and inclusive.

The project team, with expertise in political science, sociology, social anthropology, and special needs education, ensures a comprehensive approach. Mapping Care ultimately seeks to strengthen refugee childrenʼs long-term inclusion and well-being in Norway through more coherent, child-centered care strategies.