Scaling Barnahus is not only a question of opening more locations. It is a question of maintaining a child-centred, multidisciplinary and interagency response as the service moves across legal systems, geographies, agencies, and levels of government. The tools in this workbook are designed to help teams clarify what must remain consistent, what can adapt locally, and what support, governance, and institutional commitment are needed for sustainable implementation.
In most countries, scaling will begin from at least one existing Barnahus and move into new places or communities within the same legal system. Before expanding, stakeholders should work together to identify what must remain consistent, and what may adapt to local resources, competence, and communities. Children should participate in these decisions. Their views should also be taken into account when reviewing how scaling affects their experience.
This toolkit is developed on the basis of a master class training delivered by Spring Impact to the Barnahus Network in May 2026. It includes tools and resources that were annexed as part of the training presentations, which have been adapted specifically for Barnahus use. It also includes new tools that have been developed based on the experience and lessons learned that were discussed in the training.
Teams are encouraged to carefully adapt each tool to their national context, especially the applicable legal frameworks.
Key themes
- Scale behaviours, not just structures. You can replicate governance agreements, protocols, and physical spaces. But are professionals actually working differently together, or just co-located? As one participant put it: “Everyone was following the protocol. But nobody was actually working together.”
- Heros get you started. Systems keep you going. Early momentum depends on committed champions, but the long-term challenge is making the service survive beyond them.
- The best sign you’re getting close to scale isn’t enthusiasm. It’s friction. Finance departments asking difficult questions. Legal teams pushing back. That’s the moment government stops admiring Barnahus and starts trying to absorb what it means to work in the Barnahus way.
ⓘ TIP! View all videos in one playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTxJ19fWo7ik
ⓘ TIP! Access Word versions of the templates provided in this toolkit: https://go.barnahus.eu/ScalingTemplates
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) / speaker(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.