Uusimaa sees rise in family placements for taken-into-care children

Family placements for children taken into care increased in the Uusimaa region last year, according to fresh statistics from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), with several wellbeing services counties having worked to expand the share of foster care partly for cost reasons. In Helsinki, 46 percent of the 1,901 children placed outside the home were in foster families, up a couple of percentage points from the previous year. The counties of Vantaa and Kerava, as well as Eastern and Western Uusimaa, also grew their share of family-based care in 2025.

Family care costs roughly half as much per day as institutional care, the report notes. Many wellbeing services counties have set targets for developing foster care in the coming years. In Eastern Uusimaa, where placements of minors in families have long been lower than the national average, the county launched its own recruitment of foster carers last year. Service manager Tove Lönnqvist said the area’s taken-into-care children are mostly teenagers, for whom families are not easily found. Inadequate investment in carer training was also a factor. The county aims to increase the share of family care by 10 percent this year, equivalent to about ten new families.

Western Uusimaa began developing family care two years ago by training staff, recruiting foster carers and boosting support for them. Service area manager Kati Villgren said the shift stems from both human and financial reasons. “We are talking about millions of euros annually,” she said. Just over a year ago the county had roughly equal numbers of children in institutional and family care. By spring 2026, more than 400 children were in family care and about 300 in institutions, a significant change in one year, according to Villgren. She said the county can now offer family care to nearly all taken-into-care infants, but most teenagers are still placed in institutions. Western Uusimaa currently has about 200 foster carers and needs dozens more, especially for school-age children and teenagers.

A legislative amendment currently before parliament would clarify foster carers’ rights to set limits for children placed with them, including on mobile phone use. Carers would gain clearer authority to confiscate alcohol or nicotine products. Previously, such recurring situations could lead to the interruption of family care. The reform is intended to increase placements of children, particularly teenagers, in family care and reduce transfers from family to institutional care. “It is a step in the right direction,” Lönnqvist said.