Former Abnoy workers allege management blocked ambulances and police drug handovers

Former employees of Finnish child welfare company Abnoy Oy say managers prohibited staff from calling ambulances and handing young people’s drugs to police, Yle’s MOT investigative programme reports.

The former workers describe serious problems with safety, reporting incidents to authorities and protecting young people’s wellbeing at Abnoy’s child welfare units in Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia and Kanta-Häme. They say violence and drug use among residents were not properly addressed.

Many of the workers say they feared for their lives. Staff shortages and working alone on night shifts allegedly led to dangerous situations, while employees say they lacked sufficient personnel and expertise to manage young people with severe behavioural and mental health problems. Their accounts are supported by official documents obtained by MOT.

One former employee, identified by the pseudonym Pasi, said he wore a stab-resistant vest during night shifts because he feared the young people might attack him with bladed weapons.

Staff were expected to inspect residents’ belongings when they suspected that illegal items were being kept in the units. Pasi said drugs were used and sold openly. He also said he had repeatedly witnessed drug dealing between young people.

On one occasion, a young person told Pasi that a larger quantity of drugs was being brought into the unit. Pasi reported this to management and asked for additional staff. He said he was told that confiscations would not be carried out.

Pasi also said staff were instructed not to acknowledge or treat the young people’s substance abuse. Four knives were found in one room, he said.

Violence and threats

Information obtained by MOT from police and regional administrative authorities indicates that several serious dangerous incidents have occurred at Abnoy’s units in recent years.

Police investigations in 2025 and 2026 repeatedly involved suspected drug use offences, assaults, unlawful threats and criminal damage. The cases also included one suspected minor firearms offence and two suspected robberies. Most of the cases did not lead to prosecutors considering charges.

Reports obtained from the authorities, together with the former employees’ accounts, indicate that facilities and property at different units were damaged over the years to the point of becoming unusable.

One incident report said a man had threatened staff outside a unit, claiming that he had a group of eight people who would assault the children and burn down the unit. Another report said a child had injured two employees and used a belt and a strip of flooring as weapons.

MOT interviewed 14 former Abnoy employees and one current employee. They had worked as instructors at different Abnoy child welfare units between 2018 and 2026, with some working for the company for nearly 10 years. The programme has seen documents confirming their employment histories.

MOT is not publishing the employees’ names to protect their future employment opportunities in the sector. Their identities are known to the editorial team.

Company says problems were fixed

Abnoy was founded in 2016 as a private limited company operating in the social services sector. It has three high-support and two special-support child welfare units in Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia and Kanta-Häme.

The company specialises in residential care for young people with substance abuse and criminal behaviour problems, as well as neuropsychiatric rehabilitation. Its residential units have five to seven places each, most intended for young people aged 13 to 17. Abnoy has about 85 employees.

On August 3, 2026, the company came under the ownership of Kunco Oy, the parent company of Suomen Kuntolat Oy. It was previously owned by Nauha ry.

Chief executive Mika Tuomola agreed to answer MOT’s questions only by email. He wrote that high-support child welfare units face a constant risk of psychological and physical violence.

Tuomola said the safety concerns were understandable in demanding and exhausting work, adding that the company took them seriously. He said safety was central to its operations at all times and that the company was continuously developing its work.

According to Tuomola, most of the events described by employees appear to have taken place between 2018 and 2021 and the problems have since been fixed. However, several interviewees also described events from later years, including 2025 and 2026.