Ken, Vebeke, and Family Reunited
Photo by Lisbeth Lund Andresen
(Click on photo to enlarge)
By Magne Storedal
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The child protection case which is the main subject of the article – that of Ken Joar Olsen and Vibeke Morrissey and their daughter – has been described and discussed on several websites abroad and here. (See below)
This article originally appeared in Norwegian, on 25 May 2018, in Romerikes Blad HERE.
Translation: Marianne Haslev Skånland. All rights remain with the author Mr Storedal.
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The resignation of CPS leader Arnfinn Heimstad on Wednesday augurs well for the process of developing a better Barnevern in the municipality of Lørenskog. The case which triggered his withdrawal – the child protection case against Ken Joar Olsen and Vibeke Morrissey – was deficient on very many levels. Romerikes Blad has in a series of articles given an account of the inadequate and criticisable casework in this CPS case.
The most criticisable aspect was the way the municipality went all the way in their employment of heavy means without attempting to help and support the parents when their daughter was taken into care on an emergency order in January 2015. In what followed, the municipality ignored information and suggestions from not less than eight experts who all found Ken and Vibeke to be competent parents. Parallel with the outcome in the Ken and Vibeke case, the courts have quashed three takings into care and returned the children to their parents. All after decisions made in Lørenskog. In sum these outcomes are so serious that it was natural for Heimstad to resign.
At the same time it is important to note that making heads roll in Lørenskog has never been the goal. Our primary aim has been to have the injustice to Ken and Vibeke’s daughter remedied, but also, of course, that against the parents. With the CPS and the municipality leadership being so restrictively against opening up for reconsideration and self-criticism, head municipal administrator Ragnar Christoffersen has taken matters in hand over the last weeks.
Necessary changes lie ahead. The Barnevern (CPS) case against Ken and Vibeke will face investigation internally and externally. At the same time, the case is before The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The case if far from over; a large sequel which must induce comprehensive learning and change in all of Barnevernet lies ahead. Irrespective of the outcome of such review, the municipality must urgently enter into a dialogue with all child expert personnel who had anything to do with Ken and Vibeke’s case. Between them they possess important proficiency and qualifications, urgently needed to be made use of by the municipality.
While Barnevernet is under fire in Lørenskog, another public service reaps well-deserved honour. Lørenskog’s low threshold ‘Preventive Psychological Health Service’ (Forebyggende psykisk helsetjeneste (FPH)), offering free and fast psychological help for Lørenskog’s citizens, has received the prize of the year for ‘innovation’ awarded by the Norwegian Society for Psychological Science. The service of FPH is monitored through research by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Added to the fact that the municipality has got this service up and running, it also works. People suffering from anxiety and depression have, according to the Institute of Public Health, obtained better life quality as soon as after 6 – 8 conversational sessions. With this expertise being present within the municipality, it is horrible that the two services did not cooperate in this concrete child protection case. Rather, according to FPH itself and the last two experts Anette Svendsen and Evelin Tjemsland, the CPS was active in Ken and Vibeke not getting necessary help after their daughter was taken into care. This is serious and must be checked up on thoroughly.
With the traumas in mind which Ken and Vibeke have gone through, it would probably have been timely if mayor Ragnhild Bergheim came up with an unreserved apology to the couple as well.
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My comment:
This is welcome and encouraging news in the struggle of families who have been devastated by the ungodly actions of the Norwegian Child Welfare Services (Barnevernet). I was not aware of this development and I would like to thank Professor Marianne Haslev Skånland for translating this article and sharing it with me. This is the first occasion involving a Norwegian CPS case, of which I’m aware, where the head of a CPS office has had to resign over the way several CPS cases have been handled by his office. Only God knows how many hundreds of parents in Norway have gotten the same type of treatment only to never have their children returned. This is certainly a step in the right direction but it is one case of so many that must be reviewed!
Here are a few of many articles published here and abroad about this family. To see all of the posts here, just type “Ken Olsen” into the search box on this blog.
“Ken Joar Olsen and his Aria – Norway”
“Praise God! It appears that Aria has been returned to Ken and Vibeke!!”
“Ken Joar Olsen, My Good Friend, Speaks in Trondheim”
…
Romerikes Blad, is a Norwegian newspaper published in Lillestrøm, covering especially districts east of Oslo. The Norwegian title was “Forløsende om ordfører Bergheim kom med en uforbeholden unnskyldning til paret”.
Magne Storedal is the paper’s chief editor.
Wings of the Wind 
Hi Chris again.
As you probably noticed, Ken and Vibeke are struggling to get their dear Princess Aria home where she belongs to my heartbeat ❤
That's one thing I've been watching from when Ken started fighting their cause publicly through the #JusticeForBabyAria website and through the Facebook group # Child ProtectionNetWe'reNowOtherNow.
Where we have all been able to keep track of how parents, by exposing their lives, take responsibility for past actions, by being 100% honest and giving the whole world insight into EVERYTHING fighting for their child who unjustly deprived child welfare of their daily care.
You get to follow them and know the most about them both rightly and wrongly, they don't hide anything.
If you have questions and are wondering about something, then there is an answer.
Now witnessing how this which has put open and total light in the light is now used to incite Ken, in order to possibly make his voice quiet. It is awful simply!
Yes Ken confronts and expresses his opinions whether he knows wrongdoing or disagreeing, but Ken ALWAYS gives to those who are not honest, who hide something even though they question their truthfulness and openness before any conferences are made about what it should apply to the public ..
Ken is stubborn, he is crass at times and he does not take a penny to tell exactly what he means to them.
It can probably be seen as humiliating, hurting and hurting to those who have lied, hidden something they claim is not kept hidden and who operate with half-truths.
I can then mention an example, which is then Ida Åsesdatter Isaksen from Tromsø. She claimed that she did NOT hide anything, that she presented her entire judgment in its entirety and that despite earlier now she did not use the RUSS.
This turned out to NOT vote completely as, despite asserting her judgment presented in its entirety, she had NOT presented it in its entirety.It was missing a page, which dealt with her USE and her STORAGE OF AMPHETAMINE.
So when Ida Åsesdatter Isaksen claimed to have been fined NOK 12,000 for exposing her daughter in a vulnerable situation, this did not result in any correctness.
It was a half-truth that through the SPLEIS collection service money was collected for this fine ..
This is something that I consider a right action to do if it is kept hidden and one seeks support and financial help from others, as intoxicants and children do NOT belong together!
Hi visaversa,
Your opening sentence was something that I am not aware of:
“As you probably noticed, Ken and Vibeke are struggling to get their dear Princess Aria home where she belongs to my heartbeat.”
Is it true that Aria has once again been snatched by the Barnevernet? If so, I was not aware of it and have no idea how I have not heard this information. If I find that you have not made a mistake I will be greatly saddened. Please leave a comment here with a link (or links) to information about what has happened in Ken and Vibeke’s case if indeed something has happened to take Aria away from her parents once again.
I haven’t “talked” to Ken in a while but, like you, I have found Ken to be completely honest with me. Also, like you, I agree that intoxicants and children do not belong together. It is one reason that the Barnevernet needs a complete overhaul. So many of the children they take into their “care” end up on drugs.
I’m not making excuses for any parent who lies about their situation but the Barnevernet puts parents in such stressful situations that I’m surprised more tragic incidents haven’t occurred in Norway in response to such evil.
The things that go on in Norway’s “Mother’s Homes” sound so psychologically stressful that I’m surprised that BV hasn’t received intense pressure to make changes.
The whole thing is so sad.
Hi Chris.
I’m sorry there was an error in the translation.
Aria is home where she belongs and has been there since 2018.
What I meant by my first sentence is.
You probably understand that the case of Ken and Vibeke for their princess is the case that stands closest to my heart.
Hi visaversa.
Thank you for clearing that up. I am pretty connected to many Norwegians who know what is happening there and I think I would have heard if such a thing had happened. But, I’m so far away physically that I know I miss some important events.
Until Aria was returned, it was one of three cases that I was focused on. It has been important to me as well. 🙂
One little thing Chris😊
Unfortunately, my English is not very good so I have too much confidence in the Google translator🙈
I’m going to start checking better so that there are at least no major misunderstandings💕
Well, I have no grasp of the Nordic languages so I have more holes in my boat than you do. I have to rely on Google translate.
However, if it is something really important, there are several Norwegians who will help me out. I hope I can add you to that list.