Social services are underfunded and over half of all social managers in Sweden do not believe that they can provide sufficient services to people who need it. It is tough in elderly care and in initiatives for children and young people, warns the trade union Vision.
"It is possible to detect and change the direction of a child's life. But then the social services must be given the conditions to do so. Those conditions do not exist today, says Veronica Magnusson, chairman of Vision, in SVT's Morgonstudion.
New Social Services Act in 2024
Minister for Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M) highlights several things that will improve the situation in the long term: that social work education is reviewed, that new tools will come with the new Social Services Act next year. Then more space should be given to work preventively.
– We are in a very serious situation in Sweden, with an escalating gang crime where young people are drawn into crime. There, social services are the ultimate protection. The social workers and social services have not been sufficiently prioritised in the past," says Waltersson Grönvall.
Social workers that SVT News talked to sound the alarm about a pressured staff situation with colleagues leaving after a short time and many cases that are outsourced to consultants.
"You are often a recent graduate and get very complex investigations on your desk. It's not quite the reality you were prepared for, it's a tough situation, says the Minister of Social Services.