Jasmine says she never felt as bad as when her mother was in prison. She was only ten years old when she hugged her mother and said goodbye.
"It was the worst day of my life," she says.
Great lack of support in the country
30,000 children in Sweden have at least one parent in prison or probation, while 79 percent of the country's municipalities lack efforts for the children, according to a survey conducted by the National Board of Health and Welfare in 2018.
"It became clear to us that it is a problem that municipalities do not have initiatives for these children," says Agnes Lundström, one of the investigators behind the survey.
In 2021, the agency was therefore commissioned by the government to find ways to strengthen the support. The assignment will run until 2025 and this autumn the agency will present a basis for raising the level of knowledge of social workers.
"It will help social workers to be able to meet this group and meet their needs based on research," says Agnes Lundström.
Want to see greater efforts for children
According to the children's rights organization BUFFF, there are 160,000 children in Sweden every year who have a parent who is prosecuted for a crime. BUFFF believes that it is extremely important that the target group receives increased support.
"The Convention on the Rights of the Child is law in Sweden and they are entitled to support. I hope that the National Board of Health and Welfare's documentation to the municipalities will make a difference for many. It is important to increase information that this target group exists and that they get the support they need, says Denise Larsson, family supporter at BUFFF.
Listen to Jasmine, whose real name is something else, talk in the clip above about what it was like to have a parent in prison as a child.