Child welfare institutional care
We provide round-the-clock care for children and young people who have been taken into care or placed in non-institutional care.
Child welfare institutional care refers to care, upbringing and security provided outside the home for children and young people who have been taken into care or placed in open care, for whom child welfare foster care is not a suitable option. In institutional care, the child is provided with round-the-clock treatment and care in a safe environment, where they can lead a good everyday life and where their individual needs and life situations are taken into account. Institutional care is provided in various children's homes and youth homes. Up to seven children can live in the same unit and are cared for by at least seven employees working in care and upbringing tasks. At some children's homes, children lead a very home-like and everyday life. Other homes provide support for special needs of children and young people, such as disability, substance abuse, difficulties at school or mental illness. The most intense form of institutional care is special care. During placement, a social worker will assess which kind of treatment the child needs. During placement, possible foster care places will also assess their abilities to meet the needs of the child to be placed. Child welfare institutions are maintained by the state, wellbeing services counties, private companies as well as third sector organisations. During the placement in institutional care, a social worker from the wellbeing services county is responsible for the child's or young person's affairs. The social worker must take care of the realisation of the child's rights and best interests, inclusion, the organisation of services as well as the support provided to the child and family. The social worker also meets the child on a regular basis. The social worker responsible for the child's affairs will draw up a client plan for the child together with their network. The situation of the child living in institutional care and the achievement of the goals set in the client plan are monitored on a regular basis. The child will always remain in care until further notice. However, the aim of foster care is to reunite the family and enable the child to go back home. This possibility is evaluated on a regular basis during foster care in cooperation with the child and their parents. Taking into care ends at the latest when the child turns 18.