New Child Welfare Act improves legal protection of families
The New Child Welfare Act, which comes into force at the beginning of next year, aims to improve the support needed by children and their families, boost collaboration between the authorities and enable earlier intervention in child protection problems.
The threshold for making child protection reports will be lower The reports are notifications of suspected or actual problems facing children that have been observed by private individuals or representatives of any authority. The duty to file such reports will also be more widespread, and there will be no impediment to them on the grounds of professional confidentiality.
In addition, non-institutional care will be made more systematic and better resourced. There will be minimum standards applied to children’s homes concerning numbers of personnel and children and staff professionalism. Foster care will also be better monitored.
Further information: Ms Eeva Kangasniemi, Senior Officer, Legal Affairs,
tel. +358 9 160 74352