Child welfare
Quality description
The quality description of the Child welfare statistics assesses the reliability and suitability of the statistics for different purposes on a statistics-specific basis according to the Recommendation on Quality Description by the Official Statistics of Finland (OSF).
Data description
Description of statistic
The child welfare statistics contain information on children and young people who have been placed in out-of-home care or who have been child welfare clients in open care.
The data on children in out-of-home care are based on personally identifiable data. The data on the client relationship and notifications are based on figures. Wellbeing services counties submit the data by municipality on an annual basis.
The statistics are published annually in April/May.
Relevance
The statistics aim at providing a general overview of the actions taken in child welfare and of the children and young people that child welfare services are targeted at.
The wellbeing services county-specific and municipality-specific data submitted over a long period of time make it possible to compare different operating practices.
Data content of the statistics
The data provide a comprehensive description of client numbers and placements in child welfare in the whole country and in the wellbeing services counties. In addition, information on issues essentially related to child welfare, such as data on the clients of services for families with children and the costs of child welfare, has been collected to the statistics.
The key concepts and variables used in the statistics have been described as part of the statistical report in the chapter Concepts and definitions.
Statistical process
Source data
THL’s Register of Child Welfare
A statutory client-specific collection of data carried out since 1991. Wellbeing services counties (previously by municipalities) are the producers of the data.
The data in the register is collected on children and young people whose placement has been a support measure in open care, an emergency placement, a placement into care or an after-care measure. The type of the child’s or the young person’s placement location and the duration of the placement are also recorded in the register.
More information about the data content is available on the Instructions on how to submit data page (in Finnish) and on the Data Resources Catalogue page (in Finnish).
Statistical data on open care in child welfare
An aggregated (not client-specific) collection of data obligating wellbeing services counties since 2008. Wellbeing services counties (previously by municipalities) are the producers of the data.
The data are submitted on the basis municipality and mainly by age group. In addition to the number of clients, data is submitted on child welfare notifications, investigations of the need for child welfare, client plans and client relationships that have ended.
More information about the data content is available on the Instructions on how to submit data page (in Finnish) and on the Data Resources Catalogue page (in Finnish).
Change in the definition of 0–17-year-olds
The definitions used in the statistics and indicators have been modified for 2021 year’s statistics. Previously, some of the statistics for 0–17-year-olds did not include those placed in care who turned 18 during that year. However, these placements were included in the statistics for 0–20-year-olds. In the future, the current statistics for 0–17-year-olds will include retroactively all children aged under 18 placed during the year.
The method of compiling statistics has been changed retroactively so that the current statistics for 0–17-year-olds now include all children aged under 18 subject to a placement during the year.
Due to the change, some of the figures presented in the statistical report are not comparable with the figures in the statistical report published earlier in the year.
Other data used for the statistics:
- Compilation of data on social services Aggregated annually collected statistical data. Read more about the statistics on activities in social services (in Finnish)
- Social welfare monitoring register A dataset containing personally identifiable data collected since 2023. The quality of the data is still inadequate. Read more about the data in the monitoring register (in Finnish)
- Processing times in child welfare An aggregated statistical dataset collected every six months. Read more about the processing times in child welfare (in Finnish)
- Social worker-to-client ratio in child welfare social work An aggregated statistical dataset collected every six months. Read more about the social worker-to-client ratio in child welfare (in Finnish)
- Finances in health and social services An aggregated statistical dataset collected annually. Read more about central government finances in health and social services (in Finnish)
Data collection method
Wellbeing services counties extract the data from their client information systems and submit the data to THL.
Data validation
THL’s Register of Child Welfare register has for decades been the corner stone of studies on child welfare and the wellbeing of children. Extensive use of the register data has not revealed any systematic problems in the coverage and representativeness of the register. The register has not been subject to any actual validation studies, but involuntary placements are examined in an ongoing study, in which the data is compared to the decisions issued in the judicial system.
As for the representativeness of the data on open care in child welfare, the data have in the past few years been examined in relation to the data in the datasets Processing times in child welfare and Social worker-to-client ratio in child welfare social work, and the Social welfare monitoring register. These comparisons have revealed inconsistencies, which are discussed in more detail in Chapter 4.3. Consistency and comparability → Comparability of customer numbers in open care.
Processing of the data
THL’s Register of Child Welfare
Placing wellbeing services county
The data for the Register of Child Welfare should be submitted from the wellbeing services county that is responsible for the child welfare costs (placing wellbeing services county, Child Welfare Act, section 16a). Because the wellbeing services county to the area of which the child is placed (placement wellbeing services county, Child Welfare Act, section 16b) acts as the service enabler, data on the placement are often received from two wellbeing services counties.
Before the health and social services reform, organising was the responsibility of municipalities and the municipality responsible for the costs of child welfare was similarly defined in the Act. Because THL’s Register of Child Welfare has been based on the placing municipalities, the placing municipality principle has not been abolished from the processing of register data between 2023 and 2024. Instead, the data continues to be requested according to which municipality would be responsible for the costs if municipalities were still responsible for organising (=“paying municipality”). However, if the party submitting the data is not able to determine the paying municipality based on previous legislation, it is possible to use the municipality that was the child’s municipality of residence before the start of the placement. Alternatively, the largest municipality of the wellbeing services county in terms of the number of residents can be used as the municipality data.
This means that conflicting and incomplete data concerning the "paying municipality" or placement wellbeing services county are submitted to the register. From these data, THL’s Register of Child Welfare selects only one “paying municipality” for each placement period. The reasoning is carried out in accordance with the following principles:
In the first placements of the child’s life, the placement wellbeing services county is verified separately from the wellbeing services county if the data have been received from several wellbeing services counties.
If the data for later placement periods are submitted from several wellbeing services counties, the paying municipality of previous placement periods is used. If the data for later years are submitted only by the other wellbeing services county, the placement wellbeing services county may change.
If the data are for some other reason separately verified from the wellbeing services county, the “paying municipality” may also be corrected retroactively.
Age corrections under the Child Welfare Act
In the register, the processing of all emergency placements and cases in which a child has been taken into care is terminated on the 18th birthday. The placement period may continue, but the grounds for the placement should then be “after-care placement” or “open care placement”.
Between 2020 and 2024, all placements are terminated with the date of the 25th birthday. As from 2025, all placements will be terminated with the date of the 23rd birthday as a result of the amendment in the Child Welfare Act. The maximum age for child welfare after-care was already determined as 22 years on 1 January 2024, but the transition rules still made placements of persons aged 23 and 24 possible in 2024. The change is not implemented in the register until 2025. Before 2020, all placements were terminated on the 21st birthday.
Termination of placement periods without an end date
Over the years, wellbeing services counties (previously municipalities) should report an end date to each placement that has once started. Because in practice, the end date is not always received, different processing rules for terminating placements have been drawn up for the Register of Child Welfare since the beginning of the register.
Each continuing placement must be reported to THL's Register of Child Welfare every year. If the placement is not reported, it is terminated with the date of the last day of the preceding year. Example:
- In spring 2009, the municipality reported that a specific child was taken into care on 21 April 2008 and that the placement continued at the end of 2008.
- In spring 2010, the municipality reported that the same placement that began on 21 April 2008, when the child was taken into care, continued at the end of 2009.
- In spring 2011, the municipality no longer reports the placement data of the child concerned. In this case, the placement that began when the child was taken into care on 21 April 2008 is terminated with the date 31 December 2010 in THL’s Register of Child Welfare.
- In spring 2012, the municipality again reports the continuation of the placement that began on 21 April 2008. The end date 31 December 2010 is then deleted from the data, and in THL’s register, the placement is considered to have continued without interruption from 2008, when the child was taken into care.
Placements are also terminated in relation to more recent data submitted by wellbeing services counties. Changes in the client information systems of municipalities and wellbeing services counties make it possible to submit specified data on the end date, placement location or grounds for the placement to THL several years later.
The implementation of the above-mentioned corrections has not always been successful. In spring 2024, the processing was revised, and the change brought forward nearly 2,000 final dates of placements within a 15-year period. In relative terms, the change had the greatest impact on the placements of people over the age of 18, as the corrections resulted in terminating a large number of placements made as supportive measures in open care and after-care placement periods that may have also continued after the person’s 18th birthday. The retrospective corrections have also been made in the Sotkanet indicators, for instance.
Every year, about 3–7 per cent of sequenced placements, or placement episodes, end on the last day of the year. However, the commonness of the end date is not entirely explained by the corrections made by THL. Instead, it is likely that the last day of the year is also selected as the end date in practice somewhat more often.
Placements are also terminated in accordance with the age limits referred to in the Child Welfare Act, as described above. If necessary, THL also terminates the placement if the person dies.
If a child or a young person has been placed more than once during the same year, the placement information is published according to the latest placement municipality. Also, if the child or young person has been placed on different grounds and/or in more than in one placement location during the year, the placement information is published according to the latest placement.
Corrections to the dates of placement periods
A person can have only one ongoing placement period in THL's Register of Child Welfare at a time. However, in real life, the child may have been taken into care and is in family foster care, for example, but there is an urgent need to place the child in residential care for one month. In such cases, the placement location in the register is changed to residential care for one month, after which foster family care continues.
It is also characteristic of THL’s Register of Child Welfare that, because of different decisions and entries, placements are not completely sequenced. As a result, the previous placement may end on 23 April and the next one begin on 25 April, for example. Such date information is not changed by THL’s register.
Corrections to the grounds for placement
When data on placement periods is conflicting, the data concerning the grounds for the placement are corrected so that if the child has been taken into care, an emergency placement or a placement as a support measure in open care cannot interrupt taking into care. In conflicting data, involuntary taking into care can also not be changed to non-involuntary. However, the above-mentioned corrections are not made in the entire data, but the principles are limited to the processing of the conflicting data instead.
Corrections to the type of placement location
If the wellbeing services county does not submit data on the type of the person's placement location (e.g., placement in residential care), the placement type of the preceding 12 months is entered in the register. If the person has not been in out-of-home care during the previous year and the wellbeing services county is unable to specify the placement location, placement location type “other” is entered or the party who submitted the data is asked to correct the data. Retroactive checking of data with wellbeing services counties will be developed during 2025.
Statistical data on open care in child welfare
THL uses the submitted data to calculate key figures, such as averages and proportions. Because the data are compiled data, the possibilities for their further processing are limited.
Data revision
Wellbeing services counties often correct the placement data they have submitted in previous years. The number of persons in out-of-home care during the most recent year is typically supplemented with about 100–200 persons in the statistics of the following year, and the data of the previous years are also updated to THL. These corrections also result in changes to previously published annual time series data.
If necessary, municipalities also correct the data on open care retrospectively. The 2023 open care data for Turku were corrected by the Wellbeing services county of Southwest Finland and for Hyvinkää by the Wellbeing services county of Central Uusimaa.
Quality assessment of the statistics
Accuracy and reliability
The data in the statistics can mainly be considered very reliable. Reliability is based on the following factors:
The data content has been similar for a long time.
THL examines the reliability of the submitted data in relation to data that have been submitted before.
Because the data is used widely, possible errors and irregularities are detected quickly.
The placement data in the Register of Child Welfare are especially reliable because the data are received with identifiers and possible errors can therefore be traced and corrected with the help of personal identity codes.
Because the data on open care are not received with personal identifiers, they cannot be considered as reliable and accurate as the placement data. Challenges are discussed in more detail in Chapter 4.3 Uniformity and comparability
Timeliness and punctuality
The child welfare statistics are published annually in April/May. Data is mainly reported on the previous calendar year. In addition, data on processing times and the social worker-to-client ratio are published every six months. The data in the new Social welfare monitoring register are used to develop the up-to-dateness of the statistics by publishing data several times a year.
Coherence and comparability
Comparability of data on client numbers in open care
The information on open care in child welfare is submitted at the level of figures without personal identity codes. The data in the statistics are based on extractions which are made by wellbeing services counties (and previously municipalities) and information system suppliers and include regional differences.
Wellbeing services county-specific comparability: data on open care
Especially the number of clients in open care is determined in different ways in the wellbeing services counties. In some counties, the data extracted include persons who have during the year received child welfare services that are typical specifically of open care, such as intensified family work or a named support family. In other counties, the client relationship in open care has been understood in a broader sense to include all child welfare social work. According to the latter definition, children who have been placed in out-of-home care or have been taken into care also receive open services. In this case, the number of clients in open care is the same as the number of child welfare clients.
| Wellbeing services county | In open care in 2024 (O) |
In child welfare in 2024 (S) |
Clients on 8 October 2024 (W) | Open care / child welfare (O/S) |
8 October 2024 / open care (W/O) |
8 October 2024 / child welfare (W/O) |
Analysis of the situation in the wellbeing services county |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Åland | 73 | - | - | - | - | - | Åland submits only the data in the collection of data on child welfare open care. |
| South Karelia | 395 | 286 | 251 | 138% | 64% | 88% | Data in the monitoring register are insufficient because of the introduction of the client relationship document. |
| South Ostrobothnia |
524 | 1,702 | 996 | 31% | 190% | 59% | The client relationship in open care appears to be determined only through certain services. |
| South Savo | 957 | 1,313 | 873 | 73% | 91% | 66% | The number of open care clients does not fully match the number of child welfare clients. |
| Helsinki | 3,751 | 4,864 | 3,583 | 77% | 96% | 74% | The number of open care clients does not fully match the number of child welfare clients. |
| East Uusimaa | 426 | 601 | 438 | 71% | 103% | 73% | The number of open care clients does not fully match the number of child welfare clients. |
| Kainuu | 324 | 532 | 340 | 61% | 105% | 64% | The number of open care clients does not fully match the number of child welfare clients. |
| Kanta-Häme | 1,104 | 1,145 | 1,043 | 96% | 94% | 91% | The client relationship in open care appears to include all child welfare clients. |
| Central Ostrobothnia |
131 | 408 | 422 | 32% | 322% | 103% | The client relationship in open care appears to be determined only through certain services. |
| Central Finland | 1,995 | 2,705 | 2,004 | 74% | 100% | 74% | The number of open care clients does not fully match the number of child welfare clients. |
| Central Uusimaa | 1,277 | 1,835 | 1,213 | 70% | 95% | 66% | The number of open care clients does not fully match the number of child welfare clients. |
| Kymenlaakso | 992 | 2,085 | 1,030 | 48% | 104% | 49% | Excessive data in the monitoring register |
| Lapland | 1,450 | 1,384 | 1,089 | 105% | 75% | 79% | Data in the monitoring register are insufficient. Either a large number of short-term client relationships or an inconsistent number of clients have been submitted to the collection or periodic collection of data on open care. |
| West Uusimaa | 3,372 | 3,459 | 2,444 | 97% | 72% | 71% | Data in the monitoring register are insufficient. Either a large number of short-term client relationships or an inconsistent number of clients have been submitted to the collection or periodic collection of data on open care. |
| Pirkanmaa | 3,318 | 4,715 | 3,172 | 70% | 96% | 67% | The number of open care clients does not fully match the number of child welfare clients. |
| Ostrobothnia | 764 | 414 | 944 | 185% | 124% | 228% | Data in the monitoring register are insufficient because of the introduction of the client relationship document. |
| North Karelia | 1,129 | 1,622 | 1,133 | 70% | 100% | 70% | The number of open care clients does not fully match the number of child welfare clients. |
| North Ostrobothnia |
3,335 | 792 | 2,816 | 421% | 84% | 356% | Data in the monitoring register are insufficient because of the introduction of the client relationship document. |
| North Savo | 1,897 | 2,576 | 1,956 | 74% | 103% | 76% | The number of open care clients does not fully match the number of child welfare clients. |
| Päijät-Häme | 661 | 398 | 1,093 | 166% | 165% | 275% | Data in the monitoring register are insufficient because of the introduction of the client relationship document The client relationship in open care appears to be determined only through certain services. |
| Satakunta | 1,517 | 1,991 | 1,509 | 76% | 99% | 76% | The number of open care clients does not fully match the number of child welfare clients. |
| Vantaa-Kerava | 2,268 | 4,821 | 1,844 | 47% | 81% | 38% | Excessive data in the monitoring register. |
| Southwest Finland | 3,237 | 4,201 | 3,088 | 77% | 95% | 74% | The number of open care clients does not fully match the number of child welfare clients. |
| Entire country | 34,897 | 43,849 | 33,281 | 80% | 95% | 76% |
O = Collection of data on child welfare open care, S= Social welfare monitoring register, W= Collection of data on the social worker-to-client ratio in child welfare social work.
THL has not specified the rules for extracting because significant development will be carried out in the client information systems between 2022 and 2026. As a result of this development, client information must be stored in the Kanta services, from where THL will receive the data for the Social welfare monitoring register. In addition, wellbeing services counties have had to submit information containing identifiable data on child welfare clients to the monitoring register since 2023. In the next few years, the quality of the data will therefore be developed especially by beginning to utilise the data in the Kanta service. In addition, potential comprehensive reforms to the Child Welfare Act and its impacts on data management have been waited for. With these changes taking place, data on child welfare is most reliable if the time series do not change.
Although the activities of the wellbeing services counties are governed by the same legislation, the counties apply their obligations in different ways and there are local differences in the service systems. This is further reflected in the comparability of the data.
Table L1 compares the client numbers in open care published in these statistics to the client numbers collected by THL for the Social welfare monitoring register and for the data on the social worker-to-client ratio in child welfare social work. Based on the comparison, it is possible to conclude that almost all wellbeing services counties leave some of the child welfare clients out of the collection of open care data. This can be observed by examining the ratio between client numbers in open care for the whole year (O) to the client number of child welfare on a specific day (W). Even if the client numbers in child welfare remained very stable during the year and there were very few short-term and new client relationships, the number of clients on a specific date should be 5–15 per cent smaller than the number of clients for the whole year, even just for reasons such as children reaching the age of majority. Because these client numbers are very similar in several wellbeing services counties, it is likely that slightly different children are submitted to the statistics – children who are in substitute care during the whole year are excluded from the open care statistics, but on the other hand, the statistics on client numbers in open care also include children and young people whose client relationship in child welfare has ended before 8 October 2025.
The table reveals that the also the data received through the monitoring register are not yet sufficiently reliable for monitoring at the annual level. When data from the monitoring register is reported, they are presented in 3-month monitoring periods and also by municipality. Such more detailed analysis of data makes it possible to use some of the data, however. Read more about the data in the monitoring register (link in Finnish).
Temporal comparability: open care
Apart from individual exceptions, the key data in the collection of data on open care, such as the number of child welfare notifications and the number of open care clients, has been comprehensively received for a long time. The possible missing data have been described annually in the special issues section of the quality descriptions.
The current Child Welfare Act entered into force on 1 January 2008. Along with the Child Welfare Act, the data content of the national child welfare statistics was also renewed as a whole. The reforms have been described in the quality descriptions of the statistics for the subsequent years.
The Social Welfare Act that entered into force on 1 April 2015 and changed the definition for a child welfare client has a significant impact on the data on open care. As from 2015, the client relationship in child welfare begins when the assessment of service needs shows a need for child welfare or child welfare services, or urgent measures are taken as a result of a filed child welfare matter to secure the child’s health and development, or when services referred to in the Child Welfare Act or other support is given to the child or the child’s family before the assessment of the service need is completed. Before the change, the client relationship in child welfare began when the investigation of the need for child welfare was started.
In the statistical reports preceding the Child welfare 2021 statistical report, those aged 18 and over were not included in the number of children subject to a child welfare notification. The time series in the tables and indicators of the statistics has been changed retroactively.
Clients turning 18 mainly fall into the age group 18–24-year-olds in the statistics if the client relationship continues and/or the information systems calculate clients’ age at the end of the year. If the client relationship ends and the information system calculates the clients’ age at the end of the client relationship, these young people may in some places be included in the statistical age group of 0–17-year-olds.
Comparability of placement data
THL (National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health Stakes until 31 December 2008) has collected data to the child welfare register since 1991. The concepts and definitions of the data collection have remained practically the same during the entire history of the register.
Wellbeing services county-specific comparability: placement data
Legislation defines the placements in child welfare in so much detail that there are not any systematic regional differences in the data in THL’s Register of Child Welfare. However, with regard to some details, such as reporting after-care support as a placement (e.g., supported housing), there may also be regional differences in submitting the data in addition to differences in the actual activities.
Temporal comparability: placement data
Apart from a few exceptions, comprehensive placement data have been obtained for a long time. The possible missing data have been described annually in the special issues section of the quality descriptions.
The maximum age for child welfare has been changed several times during the 21st century. This is why the reference population of placements of young people is always described in a case-specific manner.
In the statistical reports preceding the Child welfare 2021 report, some of the statistics for 0–17-year-olds did not include those placed in care who turned 18 during that year. Currently, the statistics for 0–17-year-olds contain all of those children who were underaged when placed in out-of-home care during the year. The change has been implemented retroactively to the tables and indicators of the statistics.
Institutional mandate
The production of the statistics is based on the Act on the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (688/2008) and the Act on Statistics (280/2004). One of the official tasks of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare is to produce statistical data on the health and welfare of the population, the factors affecting them, and the use and functioning of healthcare and social welfare services to support decision-making, development and research. THL’s statistical production practices are guided by the instructions, recommendations and regulations of Eurostat and the Official Statistics of Finland as well as the principles of statistical ethics.
Data sharing and publishing
The child welfare statistics are published as a statistical report once a year. The statistical report is updated on the website of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
It is also possible to retrieve the key data for the statistics from the Sotkanet web service. The child welfare indicators can be retrieved with the keyword “child welfare”.
Confidentiality
As an authority, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare is tasked with reporting collected data regarding national health and welfare. The data used to draw up THL’s statistics is primarily confidential, and personal data may not be published. The protection of processed data is based on the Act on the National Institute for Health and Welfare (688/2008), the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act (1050/2018) as well as other regulations guiding the activities of the Institute.
THL’s datasets are secured at all stages of processing. Data and information systems can only be accessed by persons who have a permit to access certain data for clearly defined purposes. Others do not have the ability to view, process, change or delete data. Written instructions have been drawn up for ensuring the data protection of completed statistics. All THL personnel are bound by a confidentiality obligation.
Special issues in the Child welfare 2024 statistical report
Data on placements in out-of-home care:
The data for 2024 were received from all wellbeing services counties, on the residents of all municipalities.
In some wellbeing services counties, it was not possible to separate data between small municipalities. The data of two municipalities were therefore submitted by using one municipality code. The data on children and young people in out-of-home care for Kuhmoinen were reported by using the municipality of residence code of Kangasala, and for Vesilahti as part of the placement data concerning Pirkkala.
There have been errors in the data on children placed by Espoo between 2020 and 2023, and the data correcting these errors were received in connection with the placement data for 2024. The corrections were made retroactively to the tables and indicators of the statistical report.
Data from the collection of data on open care:
The data for 2024 were received from all wellbeing services counties, on the residents of all municipalities.
In some wellbeing services counties, it was not possible to separate data between small municipalities. The data of two municipalities were therefore submitted by using one municipality code. Utsjoki and Inari were reported as a total sum using Inari’s municipality code.
Significant replacements of systems were under way in several wellbeing services counties, which may lead to challenges in the quality of the statistical data.
South Karelia had challenges in extracting the number of open care clients.
In Northern Ostrobothnia, the number of child welfare notifications may have been distorted by insufficient possibilities to file other notifications with social welfare, which has emphasised the number of child welfare notifications.
Ostrobothnia submitted the data on open care for questions 6, 7 and 11 only for the period of 1 January–4 October 2024.
The wellbeing services county of Kanta-Häme managed to submit the figures concerning service needs assessments only for Hämeenlinna.
