Social services in Växjö have succeeded in halving the number of children in care in four years.
This is thanks to the Kronobarnsmodellen, which is based on early cooperation with the police, school and parents from the time the children are born.
– This is the right way to go, says unit manager Magnus Wibert.
It’s full speed at the open preschool in Lammhult as children and parents play and chat. One of the visitors is 18-month-old Emelie. At the same time as she moves around on a plastic horse, mother Marika tells us that her daughter was only a week old when she received her first home visit from social services.
Because in Lammhult, where they live, all newborns get to meet a social counselor at the same time as they are weighed and measured by the BVC. A way of working Emelie’s mother appreciates.
– We got to learn how they do it and how it works and it has been great. There is always someone you can talk to if you need support or just have a question, says Marika Gerdes.
Has given results
The goal of the working method Kronobarnsmodellen is to lower the thresholds for getting help and to catch families with an extra need early. Social services are involved in the children’s environment from open preschool and through the cohorts.
Together with school, healthcare and the police, any problems must be discovered and interventions put in place quickly.
– We collaboration partners are close to each other and can quickly get together and face problems directly before they have time to escalate, says social advisor Lina Meyer.
The Kronobarns model is used throughout the county and has yielded results. Because since 2019, the number of external placements of children has been halved in Växjö municipality from an average of twelve per month to six.
– It feels great that together we can counteract external placements. Of course, we have worked together before as well, but then everyone was a little more in their own downfalls. Now we meet and make joint planning together with parents and children. We will absolutely continue with this, says Magnus Wibert, head of unit at the social service in Växjö.