ARENDALSUKA: Yesterday, Caritas hosted a debate in Arendal on how civil society organizations can help increase immigrants' trust in public services. This was the first of several events under our auspices during the political festival in the southern town this week.

Equal public services are about everyone having the same access to public services, regardless of background. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Every day, at our resource centers in Oslo and around Norway, employees and volunteers at Caritas meet immigrants who are struggling to find their way in society or understand information from public agencies. In 2023, we had just over 40,000 visits nationwide and over 20,000 individual consultations. A third of all the questions we receive are related to NAV and far more are about public services in general.

Proposal for a new integration policy

This spring, the government proposed a new integration policy, so we wanted to have this conversation now about the role Caritas and other organizations play as bridge builders and door openers between people who are new to Norway and NAV, UDI and other public agencies.

Trust is Norway's gold. It's what makes Norway a great country to live in. In fact, trust is what kept us inside during the pandemic, waiting for Bent Høie to let us out. Trust is perishable and must be nurtured, maintained and strengthened. Trust is crucial for democracy. It affects how people meet each other and how they meet and are met by the system. A lack of trust can have major consequences for both individuals and society," said Secretary General Ingrid Rosendorf Joys as she welcomed us.

Want a "hotline" to NAV

We also showed a video of interviews with our volunteers who talked about their experiences with NAV both as newcomers to Norway and as counselors for other immigrants. In addition, they urged NAV to set up a "hotline" for organizations like Caritas and others who guide immigrants, so that the help we offer can be even more effective.

With us at this event, we also had Jon Horgen Friberg, researcher at FAFO, Sonja Skinnarland, Director of Work and Services at NAV, Kjetil Vevle, State Secretary in the Støre government from the Labour Party and Ida Lindtveit Røse, MP for the Christian People's Party. Herdis Nundal, head of the department for national work and migration at Caritas, was the moderator.

Those who speak the least Norwegian are the least satisfied

Friberg began with a review of relevant research. He explained that the immigrants who know the least Norwegian and have the lowest level of education are the least satisfied with NAV. They feel that there is too little time for personal follow-up, that they have little influence on their own situation or case, and many feel that the measures initiated by NAV are not useful to them. However, Friberg emphasized that many of the immigrants who have a combination of vocational training and Norwegian language training are satisfied. He believed that interpreting services, language training and digital training are the solution.

In addition to NGOs, a market of invisible helpers has also emerged. Some of these are paid handsomely to help immigrants gain access to welfare benefits to which they are entitled, but which are difficult for them to access.

Want more work-oriented integration

State Secretary Vevle (Ap) thought there was too much black paint and reminded us that much of the integration work is going very well.

More children of immigrants are attending kindergarten and completing school. And more immigrants than before are employed. Unfortunately, far too many immigrants still have poor living and housing conditions. That's why it's important to discuss integration and how we do it. We need to have more work-oriented integration," he said and added:

But we must also remember that the learning curve at many of NAV's local offices has been steep, perhaps this is the first time they have worked with refugees.

Important to strengthen the organizations

Ida Lindtveit Røse (KrF) said she understood that the information from NAV could be difficult for immigrants to understand.

The information from NAV is very complicated and formal. It's demanding to understand for those of us who speak Norwegian, but at the same time you have to understand that NAV has a set of regulations to deal with and must refer to the legal texts. Those of us who are Norwegian often have someone in our network we can ask for help. Immigrants don't have this, so Caritas and others must be the network, which is why it's important to strengthen this work.

NAV to use interpreters more often

Sonja Skinnarland from NAV said that they are constantly working to improve the language. She pointed out that the digitization that has taken place in recent years is intended to free up time for counselors to help more those who need it most.

"We're self-critical that we haven't been good enough at using interpreters in the past. This will improve now. We're also working to provide those who work in NAV with multilingual and cultural skills. But we still need to work with organizations like Caritas," she said.