Agency analysis of the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care (2020:7)

The Swedish Agency for Public Management (Statskontoret) has conducted an agency analysis of the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care (SiS) on behalf of the Swedish Government. The assignment was to analyse how SiS is fulfilling its mission and how internal and external factors affect the agency's ability to fulfil the mission. Among other things, we analysed SiS's control, follow-up and organisation, as well as the agency's collaboration with other actors.

The Swedish Agency for Public Management (Statskontoret) has conducted an agency analysis of the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care (SiS) on behalf of the Swedish Government. The assignment was to analyse how SiS is fulfilling its mission and how internal and external factors affect the agency's ability to fulfil the mission. Among other things, we analysed SiS's control, follow-up and organisation, as well as the agency's collaboration with other actors.
All in all, Statskontoret finds that SiS is fulfilling important parts of its mission to deliver individually tailored compulsory care. For example, the agency usually succeeds in offering places quickly, and most young people and clients feel that they receive help with their problems and that their stay is safe. There is at the same time much in our investigation to indicate that the care provided is not equal. There are variations in the way institutions run their operations, and SiS finds it difficult to provide care that is tailored to all the target groups that come to the agency.

Statskontoret's analysis shows that SiS's operations have in many respects developed in a positive direction. This applies, for example, to work on ethics and work to achieve greater tailoring to target groups. The agency's internal processes have also developed positively, such as work to plan operations. There are at the same time some areas with continued development needs.

Statskontoret finds that SiS should develop its strategic goals to embrace all aspects of its core mission. SiS should also develop follow-up on the content and quality of its care, as well as follow-up on its collaboration in order to be able to better guide operations towards its development needs and to be able to account for how the agency is fulfilling its mission. Furthermore, Statskontoret believes that SiS should make more use of the information that emerges in the follow-up by, for example, analysing the reasons for the differences between the institutions and learning lessons based on best practice.

In order to increase the quality, legal certainty and equality of the care provided, Statskontoret finds that SiS needs to increase the impact of its governance. Among other things, Statskontoret is making suggestions for how SiS can improve its work with steering documents, the administrative culture, the conditions for a knowledge-based work method and coordination within the agency.

Statskontoret is also making suggestions relating to partly external conditions in order to enable SiS to fulfil its mission, e.g. an effective skills supply and collaboration with other actors. SiS needs in particular to improve its collaboration with the regions in order to make sure that young people and clients are offered adequate healthcare, and with social services in order to improve the conditions for good after-care.