The stages: from notification to taking into care

Child welfare is based on the Child Welfare Act (417/2007). Its starting point is that responsibility for the child lies primarily with the parents and that the family is supported as early as possible and with the lightest possible means. The process proceeds in stages, and in most cases it never reaches taking into care.

Child welfare notification and assessment of the need for services

The matter begins when someone makes a child welfare notification, or when you get in touch yourself. The social worker decides within seven working days whether to start an assessment of the need for services. The assessment is done without undue delay, within three months at the latest. It examines whether the family needs support — this is not yet a decision to take the child into care, nor an accusation.

Open-care support measures come first

If the family needs support, open-care support measures are offered: for example family work, a support person or support family, financial support, and substance-abuse and mental-health services. The aim is to support the child in their own home. A client plan is drawn up for you, recording the reasons for the client relationship and the measures by which the situation will be improved.

Emergency placement

If the child is in immediate danger, they can be placed on an emergency basis. An emergency placement lasts 30 days at most under one decision, and it can be extended by a further 30 days. It concerns specifically immediate danger — not a long-term solution. Your opinion must be established at this stage too, unless doing so would endanger the child's safety.

Taking into care is the last resort

A child may be taken into care only if all three conditions are met at the same time: shortcomings in care seriously threaten the child's development (or the child endangers it themselves, for example through substance use), the open-care support measures are not sufficient or possible, and substitute care is in the child's best interest. Taking into care means that responsibility for the child's care passes to the authority — but your guardianship remains, and taking into care is in principle temporary.

A parent's rights at every stage

You have rights based in law throughout the process. They apply even if you disagree with the authority:

• The right to be heard before decisions concerning you and your child. The hearing is a genuine chance to give your view, and it is recorded.
• The right to information and to see the documents. You may read the documents concerning you and your child, and the reasons for the decisions. Ask for them in writing.
• The right to an assistant and to free legal aid. You can bring a lawyer or another support person to meetings. On a low income you get state legal aid, including for proceedings in the Administrative Court.
• The right to a client plan. The plan records the reasons for and goals of the client relationship and the support measures — and during the care order a separate plan is drawn up for you to support your parenting and family reunification.
• The right to open-care support before heavier measures. The authority must offer the family support early enough; taking into care requires that the support measures have been found insufficient.
• The right to appeal. You can appeal written decisions — a separate, appealable decision must also be made on any restriction of contact.

If you oppose the child being taken into care

You have the right to oppose the child being taken into care — and it genuinely affects who decides the matter. Opposing is not obstruction but your legal right, and it transfers the decision to an independent court.

• If you do not oppose the child being taken into care (nor does a child who has turned 12), the decision is made by the wellbeing services county's leading official. You can still appeal the decision to the Administrative Court afterwards.
• If you oppose it — or if a child who has turned 12 opposes it — the authority cannot decide on the matter itself. Instead, the leading official makes an application to the Administrative Court, which decides the matter as an independent court.
• In the Administrative Court proceedings you have the right to present your own view, evidence and an assistant. The application must include, among other things, the client plan and an account of the open-care support measures offered to the family.
• The Administrative Court's decision can be appealed further to the Supreme Administrative Court. The time limits are strict — apply for legal aid in good time so the appeal can be made correctly.

Opposing and cooperating do not rule each other out. You can disagree about the child being taken into care and still cooperate in what helps the child and family — this does not weaken your position, but often strengthens it.

During the care order and after it

Taking a child into care does not cut off your relationship with the child and is not automatically permanent. The law starts from the aim that the family is reunited when this is possible.

• The right to keep in contact with the child. Contact (visits, calls, messages) is the starting point. It can be restricted only for weighty reasons and only through a separate written decision that you can appeal.
• Your own client plan as a parent. A separate plan must be drawn up for you, assessing with what support you can care for your child in future and how family reunification is promoted. This plan is your most important tool on the way to your child coming home.
• Termination of the care order. The care order must end when there are no longer grounds for it. You can apply for it to end yourself, and a decision must be made. The decision must not, however, be contrary to the child's best interest.
• Proceed calmly. A child's return home is worth preparing carefully, with trial periods at home — many parents have wished afterwards that they had not rushed. Ask the staff for support at this stage.

If you feel you have been treated unfairly

If you feel that you or your child have been treated unfairly or that the law has not been followed, there are separate means in addition to appealing decisions. Their purpose is to safeguard the client's rights:

• Speak directly first with the worker or their supervisor. Many misunderstandings clear up through conversation, and the authority has a duty to advise you on your rights.
• Make an objection (muistutus) to the manager responsible for the activity, if the matter is not resolved. An objection is usually the first formal step.
• Make an administrative complaint (kantelu) if an objection is not enough. From 1 January 2026, complaints are addressed to the Licensing and Supervisory Authority (which took over the former tasks of the Regional State Administrative Agency and Valvira) or to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
• Turn to the social welfare and patient ombudsman. The ombudsman is impartial and free, advises you on your rights and helps you make an objection or complaint.

Help and peer support

A child being placed or taken into care is a crisis for the parent that you do not have to get through alone. Peer support from others who have been in the same situation is invaluable for many, and help is available free of charge.

Important contact details gathered together