Support for the everyday life
In Finland, society helps parents and children in a variety of ways. There are many services that are open to everyone, such as maternity and child health clinics, early childhood education and care institutions and schools.
Support is available
Every family needs support sometimes, and all parents also face difficult moments when raising their children. For an immigrant parent, the integration process may require so much effort that it can sometimes be difficult to focus on supporting their children’s growth and development or school work.
Early childhood education and care institutions, maternity and child health clinics and schools all work together with social services and child welfare services. They all provide families with guidance, advice and support for parenting and everyday problems. In addition to municipal services, many NGOs, parishes and religious communities offer help and support for different situations in life, such as childcare or support persons, support families or peer support activities.
Ask for help
Many municipalities have a “I need help” or “Ask for help” button on their website. You can click the button to submit a confidential contact request.
You can also chat online on many websites maintained by NGOs and municipalities and receive advice on how to access other services.
Services and activities for children and families are brought together into family centres
Family centres offer a set of services for children, young people and families, and they include social and health services for families with children, educational services and activities organised by NGOs, parishes and other religious communities. Meeting places for families are also part of family centres’ operations.
The aim of the family centres is to strengthen collaboration between organisations that work with children and families so that every family can easily and flexibly access the help they need in a timely manner.
