Criteria for granting support for informal care

The extent of how binding and demanding the care is: 

• The informal care is binding and demanding in terms of its content.
• The care recipient needs care, treatment, guidance, supervision, support or assistance in their daily personal activities several times a day.
• The care recipient does not have a regular need for night-time assistance, or the need for night-time assistance is minor.
• The care recipient is able to cope alone for some periods of time, but other care and service arrangements are required during any longer absences of the carer.
• Technical aids (e.g. remote monitoring or alarm devices, image and audio connection) can be partly utilised in supervision and guidance.
• The care recipient may regularly spend a part of their day or week outside the home (e.g. in daytime activities) without it affecting the care fee.

Without the informal care, the care recipient would regularly require daily visits from home care or a lot of personal assistance services. 

The extent of how binding and demanding the care is: 

• The informal care is more binding and demanding in terms of its content than in care category 1.
• The care recipient needs a lot of care and treatment as well as constant guidance, supervision, support or assistance in their daily personal activities.
• The care recipient also needs care and treatment at night. The care and treatment required at night is recurring and regular. If the need for care at night is minor, the need for daytime care and supervision must be extensive.
• The care work mostly requires round-the-clock contribution from the informal carer.
• The care recipient is occasionally able to cope alone for only short periods of time (e.g. while the carer is running errands) but other care and service arrangements are required during any longer absences of the carer.
• The care recipient may regularly spend a part of their day or week outside the home (e.g. in daytime activities) without it affecting the care fee. 

Without the informal care, the care recipient would require round-the-clock service housing outside the home and would not be able to cope solely with the assistance of home care. 

This care category includes clients who are in a difficult transition phase in terms of their care or in need of highly demanding round-the-clock care, mostly in the short term. 

The extent of how binding and demanding the care is: 

• The informal care is highly binding and requires special skills or learning demanding treatment measures, or is in other respects particularly demanding.
• The care recipient's functional capacity or state of health requires from the carer extensive physical assistance, supervision and care in almost all daily activities around the clock, including several times a night.
• The care work mostly requires round-the-clock attendance from the informal carer.
• The care recipient cannot be safely left home alone at all, and the carer’s presence cannot be replaced by technical aids.
• The care recipient does not regularly spend a part of their day or week outside the home. 

Without the informal care, the care recipient would require extensive round-the-clock care outside the home, such as service housing or care at a ward. 

In accordance with current legislation, the category 3 care fee will not be paid if the carer has considerable work income from the same period of time or if the carer would be entitled to receive special care allowance in accordance with Chapter 10 of the Health Insurance Act (for a child under the age of 16) or job alternation compensation in accordance with section 13 of the Act on Job Alternation Leave for the same period of time (Section 5. Act on Support for Informal Care).

The support is prioritized for young people with severe disabilities or chronic illnesses who require intensive, long-term care. There is no eligibility for informal care support if the primary need involves only verbal guidance or reminders, if the child has no significant mobility or communication difficulties, or if they do not require specialized or demanding care interventions. Similarly, support is not granted if care needs are occasional, non-recurring, or do not extend throughout the day and night.

• To qualify, the child must need more frequent and comprehensive support with daily activities than is typical for their age. This includes hands-on assistance and close, in-person guidance with tasks such as mobility, eating, bathing, dressing, personal hygiene, using the toilet, and navigating life outside the home.
• Assessments take into account not only physical care needs but also the child’s ability to communicate, understand, interact socially, and cope without intensive support.
• For children under three, support may be granted only if the child has a severe disability or chronic illness that requires both structured daily care and specialized interventions (e.g., a PEG tube, IV therapy), or if they would otherwise need hospital-level or institutional care.
• Children in Category 1 generally do not require routine nighttime care due to their condition, though they may need more supervision than peers. However, some occasional need for night care is a requirement for eligibility. This group may also include children and young people who need a lot of help at night but whose care responsibility during the day is not with the informal carer.

Additional criteria:

• A need for guidance or supervision alone is not sufficient for informal care support.
• Eligibility also depends on other services the child is receiving. The informal carer must bear primary responsibility for the child’s care. This includes situations where the child spends more than eight hours a day in care outside the home or relies heavily on additional services. The restriction also applies to short-term care.

The extent of how binding and demanding the care is:

• The informal care is more binding and demanding in terms of its content than in care intensity category 1 and in comparison to normal parenting, taking into account the child’s or young person’s age.
• The care recipient’s need for assistance, care, guidance and supervision in their personal daily activities is mostly round-the-clock in view of their age.
• The care recipient also needs care and treatment at night. The care and treatment required at night is recurring and regular. 
• The care work requires constant attendance from the informal carer and that they have special knowledge of the child’s or young person’s behavioural traits as well as treatment and rehabilitation measures.
• The care recipient cannot be left alone. 
• The care recipient may regularly spend a part of their day or week outside the home (e.g. at daycare, school, or day activities) without it affecting the care fee. 

This care intensity category includes clients who are in a difficult transition phase in terms of their care or in need of highly demanding round-the-clock care, mainly in the short term.

How binding and demanding the care is: 

• The informal care is highly binding and particularly demanding in terms of its content in comparison to normal parenting, taking into account the child’s or young person’s age.
• The care recipient’s need for assistance, care, guidance and supervision is round-the-clock in almost all daily activities. 
• The care recipient’s functional capacity or state of health requires special knowledge as well as treatment measures that involve physical assistance or supervision every night.
• The care work requires round-the-clock attendance from the informal carer.
• The care recipient’s functional capacity or state of health does not allow them to regularly spend a part of their day or week in activities outside the home (e.g. at school). 

In accordance with current legislation, the care fee for care intensity category 3 will not be paid if the carer has considerable work income from the same period of time or if the carer would be entitled to receive special care allowance in accordance with Chapter 10 of the Health Insurance Act (for a child under the age of 16) or job alternation compensation in accordance with section 13 of the Act on Job Alternation Leave for the same period of time (Act on Support for Informal Care, Section 5).