The Family Federation of Finland Mona Jonsson, Master of Social Services, Department Manager, Child...
Transcript of The Family Federation of Finland Mona Jonsson, Master of Social Services, Department Manager, Child...
The Family Federation of Finland
Mona Jonsson, Master of Social Services, Department Manager, Child Care Unit
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Väestöliitto
• is a family organization working in the social and health sector
• provides services, carries out research, influences society
• has 29 member organizations• has 150 employees and 100 child-minders• has offices and clinics in Helsinki, Oulu, Turku and Tampere
• founded in 1941
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Väestöliitto’s mission
A healthy, safe and balanced life begins within the family and impacts the whole society.
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Väestöliitto’s values
• Humanity• Reliability• Freedom from prejudice• Capability to cooperate• Justice
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What we do
• Our studies and services give information about people’s everyday life which facilitates predicting the risks factors
• Influence decision-makers, society and public opinion
• Provide valued and reliable services and expertise
• International dimension
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Strategy
• Väestöliitto supports family formation and having children, parenthood, and coping with everyday life as well as good couple relationships
• Väestöliitto strives to prevent the health risks and strengthen young people’s prerequisities for growth so that they would experience themselves and their bodies valuable
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• Promotes tolerance and understanding of multiculturalism by providing family centered counselling
• Promotes sexual health and rights nationally and globally
• Treats infertility, provides sexual and couple therapy, child care service and genetic counselling
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Activities
• Family policy– support for families in everyday life– parenthood – couple relationship
• Sexual health and rights– especially young people and men– global dimension
• Research• Medical services
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Challenges
• to influence society towards a more family friendly atmosphere
• the prevention of impoverishment and marginalization– to help families cope with their every day lives
• strong parenthood and presence• cooperation
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Challenges
• couple relationships – stability, skills and easy-access services
• to improve young people’s sexual health and support their psycho-social well-being
• to enhance cooperation in the near-neighbouring areas
• secure the operational preconditions of Finnish NGOs
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Child Care
• Service since 1989 • The Child Care supports families in the capital area
• Reasons for ordering support in the family: illness, social support, disability, lack of resources
• Lately it’s more common for a mother to be at home during the carers’ working time – support is though given for parenthood as well
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Clients
• Families who order and pay themselves (subsidized fee)
• Social welfare offices from municipalities• Employers who pay for the care of their employees sick child
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Numbers in 2006
• The total number of service hours was 37 000
• There were 985 client families• Families were visited 6 600 times 5,54 hours/time
• There were 99 workers who took care of the children
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Significant Developments
• Better Coping with Everyday Life –project 2007-2009– ”drifting” families and Coping of Daily Life with Sequence Map - method
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Sequence
• PhD Pirjo Korvela made her research to find out what is actually relevant in everyday life of families. She found out the sequence structure of a day.
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The four to six sequences of a day in dual-
worker or single-parent families
Sequence 2: Coming back home and settling down
Sequence 3: Doing something together
Seq. 4: Putting children to bed
Time at work and in day care
Sequence 1: The morning chores for leaving home
Early morning
Night
Time:
Seq. 6: Retiring for sleep
Seq. 5: Working, adults’ own time
(Source: Korvela, 2003)
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Home as an activity (Korvela 2003)
• Home is made and constructed with the family members actions
• Other activity systems are also taking part of constructing the home
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Drifting family excluded from the community (cf. Korvela, 2003)
Subject: Family
with children
Object: surviving moment by moment
Outcome: Home drifting excluded from the community
Instruments: Reacting the object
and situations faced
Rules:Timetables of other aactivity systems, like work, school, day-care-center
Community: Social groups family members are involved like hobbies, parish, friends, relatives, earlier homes, etc.
Division of labor: Day-care-center takes care of the children during daytime, help for grandparent, friends, social workers, etc.
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• If the connections to other activity systems will cut or are cutted by the family itself, the family may start drifting and will easily exclude from the cummunity
• Trust on the community makes a protective cocoon (Giddens)
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Sequence map• A three-year-project for developing a new family work method (Funded by the Lottery Fund in 2007-2009).
• Tool for reflecting not the problems but the present doings at home.
• Tool for developing more structured daily rhythm based on children basic needs.
• Transparent for family members and professionals.
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Coping levels in daily life
Drifting, unpredictible chaos
Rigid, without flexibilityRunning,
smooth daily life
(Source: Jonsson, 2006)