Social services are underfunded and over half of all social service managers in Sweden do not believe that they can provide sufficient support to people who need it. The toughest is in care for the elderly and in efforts for children and young people, warns the trade union Vision.
– It is possible to discover and change the direction of a child’s life. But then 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 of Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M) highlights several things that should improve the situation in the long run: that the sociologist education be reviewed, that new tools will be introduced with the new Social Services Act next year. Then more space must be given to work preventively.
– We are in a very serious situation in Sweden, with escalating gang crime where young people are drawn into crime. There, social services are the ultimate protection. Social workers and social services have not been sufficiently prioritized in the past, says Waltersson Grönvall.
Social workers such as SVT Nyheter spoke with alarm about a pressured personnel situation with colleagues who quit after a short time and many cases being outsourced to consultants.
– You are often a recent graduate and receive 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.