The Swedish government is introducing new measures, including fines for parents who refuse social services' help, to prevent children from falling into criminal activities. A budget of 972 million SEK is allocated for these preventive actions, with a focus on bridging the gap between voluntary support and compulsory care.
Swedish Government Proposes New Measures in Social Services to Prevent Youth Crime
Swedish Government Proposes New Measures in Social Services
Parents who decline assistance from social services may face fines. This is one of the proposals for intermediate coercion that the government is advancing, despite strong criticism. Today, a budget package of 972 million SEK is presented to prevent children and young people from falling into gang activities, according to Expressen.
Sometimes parents refuse the voluntary measures and help from social services. Now, the government wants to introduce new tools when consent is lacking, with so-called intermediate coercion, before stricter compulsory legislation takes effect.
The gap between voluntary interventions and compulsory care is too large, and it should not have to go so far that a child is taken into custody before help is provided, they believe.
More coercive measures earlier in the chain should prevent more intrusive actions and help children close to crime, substance abuse, or socially destructive behaviors. Parents who refuse support will have to pay fines.
For this task, the government allocates approximately 537 million SEK annually to the National Board of Health and Welfare starting in 2027, according to Expressen. A total of 972 million SEK is allocated for preventive measures for 2026.
The budget news is presented at 8:30 AM at a press conference with the government and the Sweden Democrats.
Mandatory Attendance at Parent Meetings
Parents will also find it easier to participate in interventions in open forms by gaining the right to temporary parental allowance, and social boards will be required to call for mandatory serious discussions within a day when a child is suspected of a crime with imprisonment in the penalty scale.
The boards will have the mandate to decide that the guardian, for example, must attend parent meetings at the child's school, and that the parent has an obligation to be sober and drug-free and at home during certain times.
Increased coercion in social services has been criticized by several referral bodies, as reported by the newspaper Socionomen.
– There is no support in research that coercion will lead to change. The threat of more coercion will damage trust and confidence in social services even more, says Heike Erkers, chair of the Academic Association SSR, to the newspaper Socionomen.