Quick support and understanding for families with children – Family counselling and guidance to address everyday concerns
Social counselling and guidance for families with children offers practical help and support in situations where families need guidance, understanding or quick access to services. The strength of this service lies in its ability to engage with the client right from the start – build trust and offer solutions even before the client has started to use the services.
The service is based on the Future Health and Social Services Centres programme by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, aiming to improve access to basic-level services and aligning them with client needs. The operating model was tested in Espoo in 2023, and it was gradually expanded during spring 2024 to the entire wellbeing services county, including Hanko, Ingå, Raseborg, Siuntio, Kirkkonummi, Lohja, Vihti and Karkkila.
Meaningful work
Professionals working in social counselling and guidance services find their work meaningful and effective. At the heart of the service is the encounter with the client – the moment when the client contacts the service and the employee can provide support. Senior Social Counsellor Aino-Maria Ervelä is the head of the Family guidance and counselling team, where social counsellors manage client requests.
“We have a lot of expertise in our team, knowledge of different age groups and matters regarding families with children, and we feel that this expertise helps us address our clients’ concerns,” Ervelä says.
Employees recognise the importance of the moment when clients first contact the service – it is not a mere exchange of information, but it also builds up trust. When a client feels heard and receives practical advice immediately, it strengthens both the client experience and the employee’s feeling about the meaningfulness of the work.
We continue to develop counselling and guidance services
Employees have played an active part in developing of the service. The use of social reports as a tool has increased the understanding of regional phenomena and strengthened knowledge-based management.
“We have found it important in our team to take time to go through the social reports and share information amongst ourselves about the phenomena and issues encountered and identified in our wellbeing services county,” Ervelä says.
Measuring client experience though the callback service is another step towards making the results of our efforts even more tangible. After the call, clients receive a short survey, which is used to collect feedback and further improve the service. The first feedback has been encouraging – clients have received advice they have been able to use immediately in their everyday lives.
The service will also be part of larger development work as it is transferred to the frontline social services for persons under 65 on 1 October 2025. This is a source of new opportunities to develop our services to be even more effective and accessible.
For more information, please contact Aino-Maria Ervelä, firstname.lastname@luvn.fi.
- Family centre