About us
Our mission is to enhance the competence and quality of services working with children and young people's mental health. We function as “a service for services”, meaning we support public services with research-based knowledge, guidance, and training. We do not engage in individual treatment.
Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Eastern and Southern Norway (RBUP East and South) is a public competence centre operating on behalf of the Norwegian Directorate of Health and the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs.
Target group
Our target group includes employees and leaders in municipal health and care services, specialised health services, municipal child welfare, state child welfare and family counselling, nurseries, schools, and governmental bodies. Everything we do happens in close collaboration with these services.
What do we do?
Our societal mission is to enhance the quality of work concerning the mental health of children and young people. We achieve this through research in various fields, guidance, direct assistance to services, and by providing training and education to those working directly with children and adolescents.
The direction and framework for our work are determined by the Norwegian Directorate of Health in an annual grant letter.
How we operate
One of the most critical aspects of our work is increasing the professional knowledge about children and young people’s' mental health. We initiate and conduct research projects, often in collaboration with other competence centres and research institutions, in areas such as assessment, diagnosis, interventions, and prevention. We also summarise research findings and make them accessible so that services can apply existing knowledge.
Another significant part of our work involves training and raising competence. We organise everything from single courses to multi-year educational programs for professionals and leaders within the services.
Additionally, we work directly with the services to support their work. Our professionals collaborate with leaders and experts in the respective services, offering guidance and tailored programs based on their specific needs. We provide assistance ranging from specific professional advice to support in larger reorganisation projects.
Sister organisations and other competence centres
Apart from us, there are several Regional Centres for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (RKBU) across the country:
Together with RKBU, we operate a common web portal providing easy access to our centres and knowledge resources: kunnskapombarn.no
We are also part of the Pilar Foundation, consisting of three competence centres: RVTS East, RVTS South, and us - RBUP East and South.