Thousands of Helsinki children need special protection
Substance abuse, domestic violence, and parental exhaustion major causes of family problems
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The number of children in Helsinki needing special care has grown significantly from the mid-1990s.
In 1994 about 4,500 children were provided with counselling and care. Last year the number was close to 8,000. The figures include children living at home who receive help from child services, as well as those in residential foster care.
Child welfare officials say that without demographic trends leading to a decline in the total number of children, the figures would be even higher.
There has also been an increase in the number of children exhibiting symptoms of behavioural problems. Periods of foster care have grown longer, and children taken into care return home less frequently than before.
Parents’ substance abuse and mental health problems are still the main reasons for family intervention. However, there has also been an increase in other factors, such as domestic violence, and burnout.
Many urban parents have been found to be isolated, lacking the emotional safety nets provided by networks of friends and other contacts that help in coping with the responsibilities of child care alongside the demands of work.
The number of urgent transfers of guardianship are seen by officials as a good measure of the problem.
Foster families for young people are in short supply, and officials often try to find institutions with a minimum of overcrowding.
Helsingin Sanomat
Thousands of Helsinki children need special protection