Children and young people within social services

Christian Carlsson (KD)

Mr. Speaker! Stockholm, where I live, where I have chosen to live with my family, has been shaken by horrific acts of violence this past weekend.

At 22:00 on Friday, the police were alerted both to Jordbro and to Solna due to shootings. In Jordbro, a man in his 20s was shot, and in Solna, two men in their 20s were shot.

Early on Saturday evening, four more people were shot at the Farsta centrum metro station. A 15-year-old boy died, and a man in his 40s later died from his injuries. A woman and another boy in his 15s have been treated in hospital.

21 shots are said to have been fired with automatic weapons. The two young men who were detained have been known to the police since earlier.

Mr. Speaker! Every time someone loses a loved one as a result of the gangs' ruthless violence, we are reminded that there is no more important task for politics than to take back safety in Sweden. For that requires more police, more effective tools to combat the crimes, and harsher sentences that give crime victims redress, and justice can be served. But preventive measures are also needed.

When the Social Affairs Committee gathered for a research day on Thursday, the theme was Crime-Preventing Social Interventions. When one listens to the researchers, it is clear that it is safety in the small that has the prerequisites to create safety in the large. This is no news for us Christian Democrats, but the most important crime-preventing factor is to create conditions for strong, safe, and well-functioning families so that children and young people in Sweden can grow up under safe and good conditions.

The importance of present parents who give children closeness and love, who train them in empathy, raise them to follow laws and rules, and who convey good values, which make children want to do right, to do good, and to treat others with respect, is crucial for us to be able to create a safer Sweden. Much is about ethics and morals, and it is about values and self-control. And here I mean that interventions for children and young people within social services play a large role and can play an even larger role than today. It is indeed the early interventions that target both the children and the parents that are most effective in preventing crime.

Mr. Speaker! The initiative on parental support programs is now being expanded with the aim of strengthening parental support, with the goal that there should be more and that they can be available in all the country's municipalities. More open forms of support are being established, for example at the family centers that are being expanded. The Government sees a need for increased cooperation between maternal care centers, child health centers, childcare, and school, and not least, we need to further develop the preventive work through more home visit programs within BVC in more parts of the country.

Targeted parenting support in groups for parents with deviant behavior needs to be prioritized because this support can play an important role in crime prevention work. Special parenting support programs adapted for fathers are needed. Naturally, family counseling is important and should be offered in all municipalities. The purpose is to resolve conflicts that otherwise risk leading to split families with the suffering that it often entails for children and adults.

Mr. Speaker! In cases where the family breaks down and the child's best interests justify that care and upbringing are provided outside the own home, it is the Christian Democrats' ambition that the child should, as far as possible, still grow up in home-like conditions. Therefore, it is important that we create conditions for more foster homes while simultaneously strengthening the foster homes that exist so that breakdowns can be avoided and the children get the opportunity to stay in a home where they can receive a secure upbringing.

State subsidies to the municipalities for subsidies of foster home placements is one thing, but more measures are required. The financial support to the families who choose to become foster families needs to be strengthened, so does the support to the foster homes for the assignment itself.

That is why the government decided on 19 April this year to task Socialstyrelsen with developing the support to the municipalities in their support and contact with foster homes. Work has also been ongoing since earlier to create better conditions for the foster homes and to secure more foster homes. A government mandate in that area is to be reported back by 31 October at the latest.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind that it is the Christian Democrats' and the bourgeois government's ambition to strengthen children's rights. This applies in particular to the rights of children who have suffered harm, such as those who have experienced violence from relatives.

The Riksdag has, during the current parliamentary session, issued a notice to the government regarding the best interests of the child in continued care according to LVU. This means that the government shall return to the Riksdag with a legislative proposal aimed at strengthening the children's rights perspective and the legal certainty for children and young people. The government also intends to do so.

At the same time, the Government Offices are currently preparing, for example, the issue of transfer of custody, the issue of increased protection for children when it concerns visitation rights for a parent who has committed violence, and the issue of that both the child and the guardian should, as a starting point, have the right to legal counsel when the issue of transfer of custody is examined. I look forward to seeing the result of this preparatory work.

Cases such as "Lilla hjärtat" and also the case with eight-year-old Tintin, who was found dead at his father's home at the beginning of this year after the father was granted visitation with the son despite serious warning signs, show that it can be life-deciding that the child's perspective is allowed to be guiding. The child's best interests need to be given greater importance in Sweden moving forward.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Martina Johansson (C)

Mr. Speaker! I reacted when the member began his speech on children and young people within social services by describing behaviors of criminal youths. That is part of the entire social service, and that is what I want to ask the member about. I perceive, in fact, that today's debate is about social services being used as a tool against criminal behaviors in children and young people.

Social services is just as much, if not more, about early interventions for small children and families. And that is not solely about parenting support in socioeconomically weak areas. It is also about support for children and families with some form of disability that leads to depressions and suicide attempts among young girls and boys. I feel that the debate results in a shift that makes us forget all children's rights and focus on how we should limit certain children's rights.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Christian Carlsson (KD)

Mr. Speaker! What I did in my speech was to try to show that I take people's concern over the insecurity in Sweden very seriously. I also tried to show that we Christian Democrats understand that in order for us to be able to create a safe society we need more police, harsher penalties and more effective tools for the police, but we also need to address the root of the problem.

We Christian Democrats are often accused of only talking about tougher measures. As chairman of the Committee on Social Affairs, I feel a great responsibility to speak about the important work that the social services do in the form of, for example, parental support programs. It is often forgotten in the debate that it is safe and strong families that are the foundation for a safe society. We who represent the government's coalition parties believe that the social services need to be given a clearer preventive mandate. We believe that the municipalities should have a clearer mandate to work towards crime prevention, because if we are to make Sweden truly safe, the entire society must be prepared to counteract crime. If I can contribute to that work as chairman of the Committee on Social Affairs, I will continue to do so.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Martina Johansson (C)

Mr. Speaker! I thank you for the answer. It is clear that I also feel incredibly great concern over what is happening in society today.

This is probably the root of the problem. How do we address it? For me, it is about strengthening the employees in the social services and reviewing the social worker education. Right now, such an evaluation is underway, and it turns out that it is perceived that the employees who graduate and start working do not have the competence they need to be able to handle the basic work in the social services. More research is needed, and more further education is needed.

In my answer regarding prevention, the member returned to only acting crime-preventively. Yes, that is the social services' responsibility. But then we are back again: Early interventions for small children are not about children who are born criminals, but it is about providing early support to children who need special support so that they feel well and do not experience problematic school absence or suffer from depression leading to suicide. Or suicide attempts – hopefully they do not succeed.

Even when the member tries to answer that one has both thoughts in their head, we land on the fact that it is crime prevention that is being discussed. Where is the support for the children who are not criminals and who do not have a criminal behavior but who need support and help in their everyday lives?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Christian Carlsson (KD)

Mr. Speaker! We can agree on a great deal of things.

The members of the committee, for example, raise the concern regarding the social worker education – that it does not prepare sufficiently well to meet the challenges that the social services face today. That is why the Tidö parties have signaled that we need to review the content of the social worker education so that we can in that way contribute to strengthening the social services.

I also agree that children are not born criminals. Alf Svensson, the former leader of the Christian Democrats, often pointed out exactly that – that no child is born a criminal. But as the researchers said at the research day with the Social Affairs Committee on Thursday: The best crime-preventive measures often do not have the epithet crime-preventive.

Good parenting support programs that reach everyone, regardless of socioeconomic group, also pave the way for strong and secure families in all social groups. It also means that we create conditions for more children to grow up and become secure citizens who want to do right by themselves and who treat their fellow human beings with respect.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Gustaf Lantz (S)

Mr. Speaker! When I sat in the Committee on Justice, I often wished that I could do what I am doing right now: debate children and young people within the social services as a member of the Committee on Social Affairs.

I am proud of how we changed the Penal Code during the last parliamentary term. But everyone knows that if we are to succeed in pushing back organized crime, the flow into the gangs must be stopped. That is where the social services' early interventions can make a real difference.

Mr. Speaker! The situation is so extraordinarily serious in Sweden that we cannot get stuck in a debate about whether crime should be fought here and now or prevented for the future. We have had too many discussions about the choice between hard and soft measures in crime policy. The debate is poisoned by simplifications and invented opposites. It is not only numbing but also harmful.

We must do several things at the same time: We must protect society from criminals and youth from crime, and we must embrace science with common sense. There is no room for political games or deliberate misunderstandings when mass shootings occur on open streets where children die. Believe me - I want the government to succeed in making Sweden safer. It is about our country, about us, our children and our future.

Mr. Speaker! The previous government began the work of introducing crime boards for youths according to the Danish model. It is a way to break new, necessary ground in Swedish crime policy. It is important that this work is completed by the current government.

The Danish boards consist of a judge as well as representatives for the police and the municipality. The boards are located in every police district and meet in the district court's premises. They are a way to consistent and powerful measures against young people in gang environments, in the form of tailored interventions with careful follow-up of the young people's development. Added to this is a rapid reaction if the plan is not followed.

The social services primarily come into contact with children who are not a threat to others, but who suffer greatly themselves. They are children who walk around with a lump in their stomachs because they live with parents who are abusing drugs or are subjected to sexual abuse. They are children who do not receive the care to which everyone is entitled during their upbringing.

Mr. Speaker! The social services can turn lives in the right direction and sometimes even save lives. This must be seen as one of the absolutely most important tasks performed in our country? Yet, the social services do not have the right resources and tools for their work. Just take the fact that a social worker cannot see all the reports of concern made regarding a child, because rules on personal data put a stop to it. The size of a municipality, staff turnover, and individual social workers' memories can determine whether a child receives help or not. So we actually cannot have it that way!

An investigation proposal was submitted on how this can be easily rectified during the previous government. Unfortunately, children are suffering unnecessarily before a new law is in place. I hope that the government feels the pressure, the seriousness, and the urgency.

Mr. Speaker! The social services would have needed that reinforcement of half a billion kronor that is in the Social Democratic shadow budget, but instead, the government's investment stopped at 10 million kronor for all the country's 290 municipalities to share. The money simply ran out when the high-income earners were to have their share. Big words about social services became a large tax cut for them with the highest incomes.

Ministers can promise everything to everyone, but the government can only lay a budget. Do you want to see this government's real priority list? Then read their budget!

Mr. Speaker! Parents must receive better support. The state youth homes must continue to be reformed. Children must receive psychiatric care that is better than today. Children must receive help earlier. Regarding this, we have many proposals and ideas, but regardless of which laws are enacted, which systems are created and which authorities are given the assignments, it is people who are to make a difference in the children's lives.

Social workers, contact persons, residential staff, families who receive children – politics needs your work, your ideas, and your experiences! You deserve the right conditions, and above all, the children deserve that you get them.

I move for approval of reservation 6.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Johan Hultberg (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Member Lantz, for an engaged speech! We share a burning commitment to strengthen Swedish social services and we both see the importance of having a powerful social service that can make early interventions and help people who are about to end up on the wrong track back on the right track.

It was a rather bold description that this government would drag its feet when, as a Social Democrat, one leaves behind eight years of silence in the reform work in this area. Finally, Mr. Speaker, we have a Minister for Social Services who is dedicatedly working to refurbish Swedish social services and who at this moment is working on developing a completely new Social Services Act that lays the foundation for precisely that preventive, early work that is so important.

Member Lantz mentioned the issue of youth crime boards in his speech. It is a very important, prioritized issue. It is actually so prioritized that the government has strengthened the resources for the investigation and shortened the investigation period. The current government is therefore accelerating the reform work and increasing the pace, precisely because we see how important it is to strengthen Swedish social services and not just work with repressive measures as Member Lantz did earlier in the Justice Committee. A strong social state and a strong welfare state are needed that ensure good conditions are created for children and young people and prevent future social problems.

Member Lantz rejected the small appropriation for the municipalities' crime prevention work. It has been said many times in this chamber before, so Member Lantz should probably know by this point that those funds are about supporting the Socialstyrelsen in their work to guide and provide support to the municipalities now that the municipalities, from July 1, among other things, receive a statutory responsibility to work on crime prevention.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Gustaf Lantz (S)

Mr. Speaker! Member Johan Hultberg has had discussions with me earlier here in the chamber and knows that very much was done during the previous government. I think that we should rather look forward, especially for the sake of the voters. But it is a bit ironic that a colleague of Hultberg in the Committee on Justice today tweeted that when the committee voted through a product developed by the previous Social Democratic government, the left was merely an obstacle in the way. But it was actually that government that developed the proposal that was voted for in the Committee on Justice today.

I believe that the voters are very tired of this type of discussion. Instead, we should talk about what we can learn from each other. Does Hultberg have any good ideas? What is in the works? I really hope that the government will return to the Riksdag with sharp and good proposals.

We can take the Social Services Act as an example. It has been postponed. It was prepared and developed as a proposal during the previous government, and according to that government, the ambition was that the law would have been adopted here in the Riksdag already during this year, but now it is postponed until next year. Let us instead discuss how we will address the enormous problems that exist, not least regarding shootings and crime in this country! I think it is important to continue in the spirit that I perceive has existed in the Social Affairs Committee to try to turn and twist problems together and take steps forward.

This government will be evaluated when the mandate period is over, in the election. Then the voters will see what became of all the talk. In this budget, we see what it became; there were very large differences between the Social Democratic shadow budget and what the government invested in.

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Johan Hultberg (M)

Mr. Speaker! Sweden's challenges are so great that all good forces are needed. The government that I stand behind will therefore absolutely listen to all good proposals that may come from the opposition.

But when I read the report that we are debating today, Mr. Speaker, I see that it is quite empty of new proposals. It would be welcome if such were included, for much, much more will be required.

I note, however, that the government's reform agenda is extensive. It is enough to read the Tidö Agreement to see how extensive the interventions the government is now about to make are in area after area. This applies to the area of criminal justice policy, the area of school, and the socio-political area.

It can also be seen, Mr. Speaker, in the budget. We are investing in giving children and young people, not least in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, a meaningful leisure time with investments in leisure cards. We are investing in giving the students who struggle the most in school increased support through investments in more special teachers and holiday school at earlier ages, to mention a few examples.

Mr. Speaker! We are now beginning a task of restoring the work line. It is the most fundamental thing to prevent social problems in the long term. We shall ensure that people get into work and that children get to grow up in homes where they see their mother and father get up in the morning and go to work. It is also only through work that we get increased resources to invest in more police and more field assistants and more resources for the school.

If Sweden had had the same economic development and the same growth as the average in the EU, we would have had 40 billion more in the tax coffers to invest in social services, in schools, and in the police. But unfortunately, the previous Social Democratic government stood more for a benefit line than for a work line. This is what we are now rectifying. Last week, for example, a proposal was presented on how we can get a benefit ceiling in place.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Gustaf Lantz (S)

Mr. Speaker! The question to Member Hultberg remains. We have allocated half a billion in our shadow budget to invest specifically in social services so that they can work with preventive measures. You have 10 million. Your answer concerns what you will do with these 10 million that 290 municipalities shall participate in and receive a share of. That is not an answer to the question.

Why do we spend 50 times more than you do on a special initiative for social services? The answer is clearly that you prioritize in a completely different way. Hultberg and Hultberg's party represent those with the highest incomes here in the Riksdag. When all is said and done, that is always how it is prioritized.

We can talk broadly and extensively, but in the end, politics is about what one does – what one prioritizes, what one spends the money on, and what new legislation one introduces. In that regard, we have many ideas. There are many ideas that are now being finalized which were investigated during the previous government's time and which this government is now moving forward with. That is good. I have no problem giving thanks and praise to political opponents. We agree on much, and we often vote the same.

But when one claims that Lena Hallengren sat and twiddled her thumbs at the Government Offices during the last mandate period, it is simply not true. I think that Camilla Waltersson Grönvall is a fantastic person, and I know that she is passionate about these issues. But in the end, she will be measured against what she managed to achieve. What did the budgets look like, and what progress did the social services make? I wish her all the best in that work.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Johan Hultberg (M)

Mr. Speaker! There has been a cross-party network for children's rights issues here in the Riksdag for many years. It is a network in which I and several other members participating in the debate are members.

Last week, we organized a large seminar here in the Riksdag within the network on the occasion of the recent recommendations that the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has given Sweden. We had, among others, invited the Icelander Bragi Guðbrandsson, who is one of the members of the committee, as well as Sweden's Minister for Social Services, my incredibly committed party colleague Camilla Waltersson Grönvall.

But both Guðbrandsson and the minister must apologize: What made the absolute greatest impression on me – and I dare say on all of us who followed the seminar – were the words from the brave youths who, during the seminar, raised their voices to testify to the shortcomings and problems that we constantly have in Sweden when it comes to children's situation and rights.

I now want to take the opportunity to extend my warmest thanks from here at the Riksdag's rostrum to the children and young people from Rädda Barnens ungdomsförbund, Maskrosbarn, Knas Hemma, and Synskadades Riksförbund for telling us about what you have experienced during your upbringing and in your contacts with social services and with adult society at large. It was painful, but above all important, to be able to share in your experiences of not being listened to. It was about discrimination, about insecure placements, and about constant upheavals.

Your stories provide fuel for my and the Moderaternas strong commitment to strengthening children's position and to strengthening and developing the Swedish social services. Thank you for giving a voice to many children and young people who otherwise would not be heard!

Mr. Speaker! The Moderates are Sweden's children's rights party. We have now, together with the other Tidö parties, begun a laborious reform work to strengthen children's position in Sweden. It is a work that is about implementing a paradigm shift for the best interests of children and making children clear individual rights-holders. It is a work that is broad and comprehensive and that concerns everything from strengthening preventive work and giving the social services better conditions to act early and proactively to raising the quality within social child and youth care.

It is about addressing the clear irregularities and serious deficiencies that exist – we must be honest and say that – within the activities of, among others, the State Institutions Board. When it comes to the latter, it is a very high-priority issue for the government, where a long series of measures are being implemented in both the short and long term.

Specifically, it is about, among other things, giving Sis better tools to maintain a safe, secure and drug-free care environment as well as to closely monitor the extensive, ambitious and absolutely necessary development work that has been initiated within the agency. But it is also about narrowing down the very broad mandate that Sis has today, among other things by moving the responsibility for convicted youths from Sis to Kriminalvården - something that we establish in the Tidöavtalet.

Mr. Speaker! Last weekend was, in most places in Sweden, absolutely radiant. There was sunshine, happy children, and songs from student parties about the brightening future. But it was also a very dark weekend. It was yet another brutally bloody and violent weekend with several shootings, explosions, and acts of gross violence.

In Farsta, a mass shooting occurred on Saturday night. Over 20 spent casings are said to have been found - casings from shots that were fired and which extinguished the lives of two people, including a 15-year-old boy. It was a boy who did not get to graduate and in the warm June night sing about the brightening future - a boy who actually did not even get to start high school before his life was extinguished.

Now the offensive against serious crime must be stepped up. We must never get used to young teenagers being shot dead and shot dead. Instead, we must respond with the full force of society to break the criminal gangs and to stop their constant new recruitment.

Sweden received a much-needed change of government this autumn. The voters elected a Moderate-led government with the simple and simultaneously incredibly difficult task of getting Sweden in order. Breaking the criminal gangs and restoring safety in our entire country is one of the absolutely most important tasks in this mission. Now, an enormous effort must be taken to combat and prevent crime. Both the rule of law and the welfare state must be mobilized, as Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer expressed it when he spoke at Järvaveckan a few weeks ago.

Let me now mention a few words about the social measures and reforms that the government and we four coalition parties are putting forward.

First and foremost, there is an intensive effort underway to develop a new Social Services Act that gives the social services better opportunities to work proactively and preventatively. The social services need to have clear mandates and tools to be able to act preventatively and early. This week, we took an important step in the Riksdag when we made a decision on a lowered age limit for open interventions for children without the guardian's consent. It is an example of how we are giving the social services a better toolbox.

The government has also made a number of important budget investments to strengthen preventive work. Around 1 billion was invested in the 2023 budget for, among other things, parenting support and the social services' crime prevention work. And in just a few weeks, on July 1, a new law enters into force that gives the municipalities a statutory responsibility to work on crime prevention.

Perhaps the municipalities' most important tool in crime prevention work is the school. A successful schooling increases the chances of a good and independent life with self-sufficiency and good health. Therefore, I am pleased that the moderately-led government has already, among other things, managed to make urgent investments in more special teachers and in school for younger students than before, and furthermore started the work of extending the teaching time. I am also pleased that the government in the spring budget presented an investment in school social teams. Social services and school need to join forces to a much greater extent. The investment in school social teams will contribute to that.

Mr. Speaker! The report we are now debating covers a long series of issues, of which I have only managed to touch upon a few. I would have liked to speak more about how the government resolutely and powerfully addresses disinformation and threats and violence directed against the social services and its employees.

And if I had not already exceeded my declared speaking time, I would also have wanted to speak about how we Moderates want to strengthen family homes, about the continued work with a reinforced Lex Lilla hjärtat, and about much, much more. But I will content myself with finally moving for approval of the committee's proposal and making a statement.

I note that we have a long way to go to strengthen the position and rights of children and young people in Sweden, but that the journey now, since the change of government, has begun. Step by step, we strengthen the rights of children and young people. Step by step, we improve the conditions for children and young people in Sweden. Step by step, we get Sweden in order.

In this speech, Jesper Skalberg Karlsson (M) agreed.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Martina Johansson (C)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Johan Hultberg, for your speech! Above all, thank you for your introduction, where you told us about the joint seminar we had last week! I share your description of the clear message that the young people gave us. It was about the right to be listened to and about being allowed to tell one's story. This is one of the driving forces that I also have in my work.

But what made me choose to request the floor is more about the member's talk regarding a new Social Services Act. We know that there are proposals that evidence-based methods should be used, and that is something I usually return to. Competence and support based on the individual need are very important things. And it is about early interventions to prevent children and young people from suffering harm and, in the long run, potentially, in exceptional cases, being placed into care.

But there is something I can't quite reconcile. If the government has a focus on early interventions, as I often hear, I wonder about one thing. In the Tidö Agreement, there is a provision that LVU, the Act on Care of Young People, should be used more often. Prosecutors should be able to make decisions on detention. Where in this is what the member was referring to? It is about competence and that we should have good methods. Do prosecutors have that knowledge and competence? What investigative methods do they have when they are to make a decision on the detention of a young person? And do they then have access to foster homes, HVB homes, or Sis institutions that these children and young people need in the next step?

It is such things that make me worried, even though the government has high ambitions. Will this really land where we want it to when it comes to the rights of children and young people?

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Johan Hultberg (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Member Johansson, for the opportunity to continue this important discussion! The Moderates' and the government's starting point is that we must do very much more to prevent future social problems. In that regard, I believe that the most fundamental thing is, as my fellow member from the Christian Democrats pointed out, good parenting and a good school that ensures that no student falls behind. Therefore, the measures that I mentioned in my speech, for example more special education teachers and measures to ensure that students who are about to fall behind are caught earlier, were very important.

But it is also important that we actually see reality as it is. Today we have acute problems with young people who are drawn into deep criminality, and there are individuals who need to get away from the criminal environments to get a chance not to end up as murderers or as murdered. That is the background to why we want to see the possibility of making more detentions and making them earlier.

But it is naturally important that we include what Member of Parliament Johansson points out. We need to do this from a stable foundation and sound investigations. And it needs to be carefully investigated how it should be designed.

But it is important that society does not hesitate to move a youth who is in a very destructive environment. One may have become stuck in crime or one might be growing up in an extremely dysfunctional family, perhaps even with criminal parents or whatever it is. Then it must be possible, in some cases, to make placements earlier - that is what is always guiding for the Moderaterna and for the government - based on the child's best interests.

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Martina Johansson (C)

Mr. Speaker! Of course, we must work on removing the acute problems that exist today. But for that matter, we must not forget: How do we work long-term to break the chain?

What I can find in the Tidö Agreement concerns a new Social Services Act. I also hope that it will be able to do something. But the question is: How long are we going to wait for the new Social Services Act? The Government has an ability to put forward many other types of proposals much faster, but they do not build the whole. It is about competence and about children's rights. I have not seen many concrete legislative proposals yet.

Regarding what we debated a few weeks ago, we agree that it is good that one can provide interventions to young people without parental consent and that they can be provided earlier. But there is something we do not agree on there. I think that the twelve-year-old in that case should be able to appeal a negative decision, because as was said, children's right to be heard is important.

I received no answer on whether Johan Hultberg thinks a prosecutor is competent and has the correct investigative methods when it comes to the - what did the member say? - sound investigation during a detention. Does a prosecutor have that possibility? That was my basic question.

The Speaker requested in a previous exchange more proposals on how we can work with the social services. I would like to point out that there are a number of different proposals, including from Centerpartiet, in the report. I wish that the Moderaterna could actually gather more of us, so that we can help each other pick out the good examples and so that we can work in the long term. It would also be nice of the government if they included us, so that we work in the same way with long-term goals, so that children's rights are placed at the center.

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Johan Hultberg (M)

Mr. Speaker! I cannot, so to speak, sign for the government and the responsible minister. But my firm conviction is that Social Services Minister Camilla Waltersson Grönvall wants to cooperate broadly across party and bloc boundaries in order to develop Swedish social services and build further on the culture we have in the Social Affairs Committee with good cooperation across party lines.

The Minister for Social Services was in the committee as late as today to hold a discussion with the committee on another important and pressing issue, namely how we can curb the system-threatening organized crime that plunders our welfare systems.

Mr. Speaker! Yes, I answered that the question of utilizing LVU and making placements earlier needs to be investigated carefully. Exactly how this is to look, I cannot answer today. The Tidö Agreement is, so to speak, a reform agenda that describes a to-do list for this government. Then each point there will be investigated for how to execute this in detail based on the overarching goals which concern strengthening the social services, pushing back crime, restoring safety, getting more people into jobs, reducing exclusion, and improving integration. It is this that we four coalition parties who stand behind the Tidö Agreement have gathered around, that is, to get Sweden in order, to boil it down to one sentence.

We must break the chain and make early interventions. That is why I am so glad that we, from the side of the Tidö parties, have already made a long series of important investments in precisely early interventions. The parenting program is a very elementary and fundamental intervention. Being a parent is difficult. In that case, one must be able to receive help and support from society, while at the same time society must also be crystal clear that as a parent, one has a great responsibility. This parental responsibility needs to be clarified, and this government will also do that.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Gustaf Lantz (S)

Mr. Speaker! Given the protocol, I cannot let a Moderate member stand and say that the Moderates are the children's rights party. If one says something like that, it carries an obligation. But if we look at what children in this country need to be assured of their right to education and housing, we can check off point by point that it is not there that the Moderates are focusing their efforts. It is not to the municipalities, which now face a steel bath in the economic crisis, that the money is coming to save the school and social services. It is not a children's rights perspective to invest in large tax cuts for those who earn the most.

Then one must ask the question: Which children are we talking about, and which rights are we talking about? It is a right to housing. Then we must discuss the housing policy. Nothing is being invested there. Support for rental apartments is being removed. If one looks at the social services' possibilities to make early interventions and make a difference, there are large differences if one lays the budgets side by side.

It is not such that one becomes a children's rights party just by saying so, one must actually also deliver.

My mother is a wise woman. When someone says that he or she wants to be clear, she usually shouts from the TV sofa: But why didn't you just say it instead!

I borrow her wisdom here and must urge Johan Hultberg to show, in words, actions, figures, and commitment, that the Moderaterna actually is a children's rights party. Now they have signed an agreement according to which it is made more difficult for interpretation within healthcare - that patients should make themselves understood and understand doctors. I find it difficult to see that this agreement in its entirety would go in the direction of children's rights.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Johan Hultberg (M)

Mr. Speaker! For many years in Sweden, we have had a development where the shadow society has grown, where people have become trapped in a benefit dependency that has been passed down through generations and which has created enormous social problems. It is a policy for which the Social Democrats bear a very heavy responsibility. It is a policy that has led to the problems we have today. We need to deal with this. Now, I raised my voice perhaps to be clear.

But the Moderates are truly Sweden's children's rights party. We can take the issue of Lilla hjärtat and placed children as an example. There, we pushed very hard during the last parliamentary term that the child's best interests must be an independent criterion. The child's best interests must weigh heavier than the biological parents' right to their children. The Social Democrats opposed this. That led us to push forward something as unique as the Riksdag appointing its own investigation. What we worked on then in opposition, we continue to carry out now in a government position.

We will, area by area, ensure that children's rights are strengthened. We will ensure that all children and young people are given a good start in life. It begins, again, with secure parents, good upbringing conditions in the family, a good school, and a strong work line. We must truly re-establish the work line. We cannot have hundreds of thousands of people in Sweden of working age who do not go to work, support themselves, and contribute to our common welfare.

We can discuss tax rates here and there, up and down, but the most important thing, Member Lantz, is to get more people into work. Then we must demand that people make an effort. We must make it more profitable to work. And we must equip our children and youth through a good schooling.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Gustaf Lantz (S)

Mr. Speaker! It is not the first time that the Moderates have claimed an epithet or even tried to take others'. They called themselves a workers' party in the elections of 2006 and 2010. It was a workers' party that worsened things for those who work, for those who perform hard work, not least in the welfare sector, through worse unemployment insurance, worse health insurance, and things that create security.

But let us talk about our time, where we stand now. If one seriously wants to emphasize the work line, of which I am the first to join, why then does one make it harder for people to educate themselves for certain professions? Why does one make it harder for folk high schools and for those who need a second chance in life when we have such a shortage of labor within many professions and at the same time have many unemployed. The logical conclusion is then rather to talk about labor market policy, labor market initiatives, and labor market education instead of putting all the effort into talking about a benefit ceiling.

Of course, people have an obligation to support themselves. But society also has an obligation to ensure that it is possible to take the jobs that exist. Active labor market policy is part of SSU's basic education. I can recommend it. It is fantastic. They might even let in Moderate members, who knows.

Now we face an enormous crisis in Sweden. Many work within the welfare sector, and it is not the case that those who work in welfare are idling. They will be needed there. What they would need is the message: You can keep your jobs. The crisis should not have to be paid for with your unemployment.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Johan Hultberg (M)

Mr. Speaker! In this year's budget, the government has prioritized increasing the state grants to municipalities and regions. We are doing this in a tough situation. We are now following the economic development very closely—how inflation develops and how the finances of the municipalities and regions develop. We also know that the conditions for municipalities and regions differ very much. Many have made enormously large surpluses in recent years. And I naturally expect that they use these resources now to secure employment in schools and in the core of the welfare system.

Politics is always about priorities. It is about this here in Sweden's Riksdag, but it is also about this locally and regionally in every municipal council.

I can question how the Social Democrats here in my region can choose to prioritize lowered ticket prices in public transport over retaining nurses within healthcare. It is, of course, the regional leadership in Västra Götaland from Gustaf Lantz's party that must answer that question. But I think it is important to also actually point out the responsibility that one has regionally and locally.

The government will, as said, continue to support the municipalities in their work to prevent social problems, crime, and other issues. We have rolled out important initiatives so far with parenting support, with initiatives to subsidize foster care placements and other measures so that important social interventions do not become a question of whether municipalities can afford to place children or not, but rather it is the need that shall guide.

The government that I represent and stand behind will prioritize providing our children and young people with support and a good start in life through a good school. But we will also not yield an inch on the fact that it must pay off better to work and strengthen the incentives for work, while we naturally invest in having a well-developed labor market education so that people can take the jobs that exist.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Carita Boulwén (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Today we are debating the Social Affairs Committee's report 17 Children and young people in social services.

I want to begin by stating that we in the Sverigedemokraterna stand behind all our reservations, but for the sake of time, I move for approval only of reservation 23.

Mr. Speaker! It is impossible for me to stand here in the speaker's chair today without touching upon some of the recent tragic events. On Saturday, three were seriously injured and a 15-year-old boy was killed in a shooting in Farsta. On Thursday, another 15-year-old boy was killed in Älvsjö, hacked to death by a peer. Another 15-year-old boy was recently stabbed to death in Hammarby sjöstad, also by a peer.

Gang shootings and children being killed and killing have become increasingly common in our country. I feel both sorrow, anger, and despair. Enough is enough now! This is unfortunately a development that we in Sverigedemokraterna have long warned about, while other parties for far too long have turned a blind eye to reality and its serious problems. Crime is sinking further down in age, so that children handle weapons, and innocent children and adults are affected when they end up in the middle of the gangs' executions.

Now, however, the Sweden Democrats are part of the government base, and together with the other government parties, we have in the Tidö Agreement agreed on a number of important measures to both work preventatively and take decisive action against the severe and escalating crime in our country. Thus, the conditions now exist to reverse the development. It will not be easy, and it will not happen quickly, but I can promise that we in the Sweden Democrats will do everything in our power to reverse this and get order in Sweden again.

Mr. Speaker! Children are our future, and their needs and rights must be placed in the foreground. They have the right to a safe and secure upbringing, the right to feel well-being, and the right to education and development.

I want to particularly emphasize the significant role that secure families play. Secure families are the cornerstone of society. Secure families provide children and young people with an important platform on which to grow and develop. It is within the family that we develop our basic social, emotional, and cognitive skills. It is there that we learn to build relationships, solve problems, and manage conflicts. A secure family environment gives children confidence, self-esteem, and a sense of coherence. Security within the family also provides a foundation for creating a positive and healthy social culture.

Parents or guardians have a great responsibility to give their children love and security as well as to teach them values, respect, empathy and responsibility - to be good role models. They also have a responsibility to set clear boundaries and rules. Children need a lot of love and at the same time frameworks to behave within.

To maintain safe families, society needs to offer support and resources for parenting and family life, among other things through the maternal health center, the child health center, open preschool, preschool, school, health and medical care, and social services. The goal is that all children should grow up under safe conditions and to promote the conditions for good living conditions, counteract crime, substance abuse and social exclusion, as well as detect and protect those vulnerable to violence and honor-related violence and oppression.

Here, schools, healthcare, police, voluntary organizations and other public and private institutions need to cooperate with social services. Not least, parental responsibility needs to be strengthened, which is also part of the Tidö Agreement's priority areas.

Mr. Speaker! As I have previously mentioned, the preventive work is of immense importance. The Sweden Democrats and the other government parties agree that crime prevention work shall be truly prioritized and that the Social Services Act shall be reformed. I am therefore pleased that we, through the Tidö Agreement, are implementing a number of initiatives that strengthen the conditions for exactly this.

Action must be taken against juvenile delinquency with early interventions, a reinforced parental responsibility, and an expanded parental support program. On May 24, the Riksdag also supported the committee's proposal regarding the bill A lowered age limit for open interventions for children without the consent of their guardians.

More open forms of support shall be established, for example at family centers. The legislation against honor-related violence and oppression shall be tightened, and the support for the vulnerable shall be increased. A broad reform to strengthen school health shall be implemented, and there shall be school social teams and on-call schools or emergency schools for violent students.

A national task force shall be introduced to prevent crime and to train social workers in handling young people who commit or are at risk of committing crimes. LVU shall be used to a greater extent to protect children from vulnerability and violence. Youth crime boards and special youth prisons shall be established, and Kriminalvården shall be the primary authority for these.

The prerequisite for being able to combat crime is also that authorities can share information with law enforcement agencies. It is therefore important that the secrecy legislation is changed.

Mr. Speaker! There are, therefore, a number of important reforms underway, but the work does not stop there. More measures are being prioritized, and further decisions need to be made here in the chamber by both us and other committees.

The social services play a central role in the work of ensuring the well-being of children and young people and that they are given a safe and stable environment to grow up in. An important task the social services have is to work preventatively and offer support and advice to families who are in difficulties, as well as to protect children from abuse, neglect, or other forms of maltreatment.

Separations and custody disputes are examples of situations where families may need extra support and counseling, and where the objective must be to resolve disputes through family mediation and avoid them ending up in court. In the investigation *A childhood free from violence*, a unified national strategy is proposed to prevent and combat violence against children, including honor-related violence and oppression. There, they also specifically highlight the support needs for exactly parents and children in custody disputes, all to reduce the risk of broken families and so that children and young people receive the best possible conditions.

Taking a child into care and moving them away from their own home is one of the most far-reaching measures society can take. But when there is a need to place children and young people outside of their biological families, it is the social services' responsibility to ensure that these placements are safe, that they promote the child's well-being and development, and that they fulfill their purpose. Competence and knowledge must be present, and regular supervision must occur at all levels to ensure this. As an additional step, a national register of foster homes should be introduced. Following that, the placements need to be followed up to ensure that the interventions have achieved the correct outcome.

Furthermore, we see a need for strengthened competence within the social services, particularly regarding child investigations, family mediators, and issues concerning honor-related problems. Many of the children and young people who are placed have a broken background and need safe, stable adults around them who can provide them with support and good care. Safety, stability, and predictability are extremely important for everyone, not least for these children, and it can be decisive for breaking a destructive behavior.

We in the Sweden Democrats therefore work so that more young people, when possible, shall be placed in foster homes, especially reinforced foster homes and treatment families instead of in institutions. Social services in many municipalities, however, testify to difficulties in recruiting foster homes and in retaining existing ones, which can make it difficult to find suitable placement opportunities. More placements within Sis could have been avoided if there were other alternatives.

Mr. Speaker! That is why it is a very welcome initiative for us that the government has now tasked Socialstyrelsen to develop support for the municipalities in order to, among other things, increase the number of foster homes and improve knowledge in foster home care.

At Sis-hem, the most vulnerable are placed. These are young people who, for various reasons, need protection - from themselves and their own behavior, from others, or from serious deficiencies in their home environment. Other forms of placement may have been tried or are not considered feasible, or there are no alternatives. We see an increasing number of young people with mental illness and NPF diagnoses being placed in Sis-hem, even though they should have received care and treatment within child and adolescent psychiatry.

We here in the chamber are all aware of the very extensive deficiencies that have existed for a long time in various Sis institutions. Violence, abuse, and lack of competence are just some of the problems within the operations. The new government is now taking a number of measures against the problems at the Sis homes, which we welcome and hope will finally yield results. Knowledge-enhancing measures are needed not only for the staff at Sis but for everyone who works with children and young people, as well as for those who investigate, place, and interrogate them. This applies to social services, schools, the police, and so on.

The staff within Sis also need to be given the right tools to prevent continued criminal activity and contact with gang associates and other criminals during the period of placement. For example, we need to enable room and body searches in case of suspicion of smuggling drugs and limit access to phones and tablets to prevent risky contacts and counteract escapes.

We in the Sweden Democrats want to see that placed children are given access to a children's advocate who shall serve as a support for the child in contact with foster homes and social services. Far too many children experience that they are not being listened to. All children have that right.

There is much more to say on these issues, but I have already significantly exceeded my speaking time. I will therefore stop there.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Juno Blom (L)

Mr. Speaker! I would like to begin by expressing my approval of the proposal in the report.

For the vast majority in Sweden, Sweden is a fantastic country to grow up in. Children are surrounded by love and security from birth, which is a factor that is crucial for children to grow up and become secure and trusting.

At the same time, there are many children living far from that reality. There are children who grow up in homes that, instead of being a safe place, have developed into a crime scene where violence is constantly present. There are children who live with enormous anxiety when they put the key in the door because they do not know what awaits them. There are children who are forced to learn early on to sense moods in order to be able to protect themselves.

In other cases, children are forced to learn early on that it is the honor culture's norms and values that apply. These children are deprived of their fundamental freedoms and rights. Children who attempt to defy the honor culture's norms and values risk being subjected to violence or forced marriage or being taken out of the country as punishment. This also serves as a clear signal to other girls and women in the family - this is what happens if you even think about not following the honor culture's norms. The demand for obedience and the culture of silence that spreads leads to vulnerable children suffering in their loneliness.

There are children who are forced into contact with a violent parent and children who have one or more siblings who belong to a criminal gang. There are children who learn early on to beware of the police being visible, but who also risk being exposed when other criminal gangs mark territory to warn the criminal brother.

For other children, it is about searching for alcohol in wardrobes and kitchen cupboards and about taking care of one or two parents who are unable to take care of themselves or the children.

There are parents who cannot manage to get out of bed due to mental ill-health and children who are forced to care for a parent. There are older siblings who early on become the family's project managers with a great deal of responsibility that should never be placed on a child.

There are parents who choose their careers and their own social lives over their children. The surface may appear perfect, but the cracks in the facade lead to insecurity for the children.

There are children who, after years of neglect, seek support and protection. There are children who plead for help but who many times are forced to prove an enormous amount before interventions are initiated. Guardians are far from having the same requirements on them to prove that they are parents capable of giving their children a secure and trusting upbringing.

There are children who eventually end up being placed outside the home but who, even in the placement, risk being subjected to violence and abuse when they are in state care.

Today, one of the most important policy areas for our future is being debated: children's right to a safe childhood and society's responsibility to provide support when children are in need of interventions.

Mr. Speaker! I began by saying that Sweden is a fantastic country for most children to grow up in. It is thanks to brave activists and politicians who have gone against the current and dared to break new ground. 120 years ago, Ellen Key began demanding a ban on hitting children. In 1950, Sweden became the first country to introduce a ban on corporal punishment in schools. In 1979, the liberal Prime Minister Ola Ullsten submitted the bill on a ban on corporal punishment—even in this regard, Sweden was the first country in the world.

But for far too many children, Sweden is no longer a leading country. One in ten children, a total of over 200,000 children, grow up with violence in the home. We have a social service that is on its knees and social workers who are subjected to an international intimidation campaign to frighten them and influence their exercise of authority.

Today, up to 500,000 children and young people live in vulnerable areas. Parallel societies have emerged there where the rights of children, women, and hbtqi persons are set aside all too often. These are areas where gang criminals and extremists stand ready to exert threats and pressure or to attempt to recruit children.

It is important that we now get a shift in perspective in the view of children and young people, that the children's rights perspective is strengthened and that parental rights are challenged. This applies in particular to the situation for children and young people who have been taken into care. There are important liberal reforms here.

Early interventions are crucial. New parents and their infants need early interventions. Studies from the USA and Finland show positive effects of expanded home visit programs when it concerns new first-time parents. Children who are at risk of suffering harm are caught earlier, and those who may fall behind in development receive support and protection in time. In the municipalities where work has been done with home visits from staff at BVC and social services, the visits have led to safer parenting, a higher willingness to vaccinate and fewer visits to the children's ward, as well as to social interventions being able to be established much earlier.

Across the country, new families with children need to be given the same opportunities. The misleading hate campaign currently underway against the social services in Sweden makes it even more important to clarify the social services' mandate early on, so that trust and confidence are there when families need support. When others want to divide society and fuel mistrust towards the social services, the Liberals work so that more people can be a part of society.

Last week we listened to children and young people who have been placed in society's care. None of us members were left unmoved. The message was clear. The representative from Maskrosbarn highlighted the importance of having access to a complaint function for children and the importance of politicians and authorities taking measures so that children feel safe in telling their story when they meet the social services. They also highlighted how important it is that children should feel that authorities believe their stories of vulnerability, how important it is to strengthen the school for placed children and that the school and social services should work more closely together.

These are simple and wise pieces of advice that should be a matter of course for a country like Sweden, but instead, there is insecurity and continued vulnerability for far too many children. I would like to thank the representatives from Maskrosbarn, Rädda Barnen, Knas Hemma, and Synskadades Riksförbund for truly advocating for vulnerable children in a fantastic and moving way.

It is extremely important that children are granted the right to an external function they can turn to when they are subjected to neglect, violence, or abuse while they are placed. Placed children shall be surrounded by safety. It is important to emphasize that society's care shall give every child the right to process the vulnerability that forms the basis for the child being taken into care by the social welfare committee. Children in placement have the right to a good schooling. This is an extremely important investment for the children's future.

However, that is not the case today for far too many placed children. Report after report testifies that placed children are subjected to abuse by staff at, for example, the state's locked residential facilities. Children are forced into placements in HVB homes that do not function. Children are placed in foster homes where neither the placed child nor the foster parent receives sufficient support. Measures to guarantee that children are treated with respect must be taken, because children's lives cannot be replaced.

It is crucial that we now have a government and a responsible minister who clearly want to strengthen the children's rights perspective and implement the reforms that can actually make a difference.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Maj Karlsson (V)

Mr. Speaker! It has been a couple of very dark days with children who have been torn apart and relatives who have lost their loved ones. Everyone is aware that the situation is extremely serious and that we in politics must do everything in our power to stop this brutal development. Today, my thoughts go to all the relatives who are now forced to endure the worst nightmare of their lives.

Every child, regardless of background, shall have the right to a good upbringing free from violence and oppression - that we have decided in law. It is often easy to talk warmly about the rights of children and young people as long as the child is not a nuisance, but at the same moment the child steps wrong, it can happen quickly that one loses direction.

Strengthening preventive work is a prerequisite for our children and young people to be given the foundation required to build a good life. But we must simultaneously have the courage to step in when children are harmed or themselves end up on a downward spiral. In those cases, the right interventions must come early. A child is not born with a weapon in hand or with an ambition to murder. It is a very dark and painful process where there can be many opportunities to stop it before the catastrophe becomes a fact.

Structural societal problems such as economic and social vulnerability are a breeding ground that must be countered at all costs, and the preventive work must be prioritized. We must ensure that the right help is available when it is needed. This requires that society can offer a chain of care to give these children a good future despite their history. Social services must be given the right conditions, child and adolescent psychiatry must be built up, and parents must receive the right support. All children must also, of course, be given space to be involved in the issues that concern them.

Mr. Speaker! The social services are one of the most important authorities we have to prevent crime and provide children with the right help. Unfortunately, the trust in the authority is many times very low, which contributes to a child reaching the social services only when the situation is serious. It is therefore central that we increase the possibility for cooperation and ensure that the social services are given the opportunity to meet children where they are, both in order to be able to build trust and detect risks in time.

In Angered in Gothenburg, every upper secondary school has received a social worker and two family therapists. The school social cooperation teams shall help students who are in the danger zone of entering crime to instead focus on school. The focus is on students who have high school absence, are disruptive, or risk being drawn into crime. Because the social worker is present at the school, trust can be built and social services can enter earlier in the process, which makes it easier to help the students who are vulnerable.

Vänsterpartiet wants the government to review the possibility of establishing school social cooperation teams with social workers and family practitioners at all junior high schools in socially disadvantaged areas. Therefore, I move for approval of reservation 12.

Sis and its activities could have a key function in giving children and young people the opportunity for a good life. But it is no secret that Vänsterpartiet has been very critical of Sis due to the deficiencies in its activities. Just during the past year, a number of reports have been released from children's rights organizations testifying to how children and young people are exposed to violations, threats, violence, sexual harassment, and abuse. The criticism has been at least scathing from both Ivo and JO, yes, even the UN's Committee on the Rights of the Child directs very sharp criticism toward the violence that particularly vulnerable children are exposed to in our youth homes. This is a completely unacceptable and unsustainable situation. We cannot believe that our youth will get on the right track if they are exposed to violence by those who have been tasked with helping them.

Vänsterpartiet fully and completely shares the view of the children's rights organizations that the deficiencies within Sis's operations are so extensive that it is no longer possible to point out individual areas for improvement. The operations for children in compulsory placement must be fundamentally changed. We therefore submitted a committee initiative to the Social Affairs Committee with three sharp demands. We want the entire operation to be reformed, we demand that the government fulfills the announcement the committee gave the government to phase out separations, and last but not least, Ivo must be tasked with tightening the supervision. It is with great disappointment that I can state that the committee chose to reject our initiative.

A glimmer of light is, however, that Minister Camilla Waltersson Grönvall, in response to our demands, has promised that the government shall appoint an inquiry into an organizational review of the entire Sis. The assignment shall aim to improve the safety and care for the children who need society's support the most. If she stands by her word, it is a very important step forward.

I want to be clear, however, that we cannot lean back while the review is ongoing. The abuses will not cease just because someone is reviewing the operations, and we cannot stand by with our arms crossed when children are being subjected to [abuse] in the name of society. Vänsterpartiet will therefore also continue to demand that the segregations be banned and that the supervision be increased, and we hope that we can get the committee on board with those demands.

Mr. Speaker! Counteracting social and economic vulnerability and investing in preventive work is a modern, proven, and research-based antidote to vulnerability and crime. Everyone actually knows that. It is just that it requires a bit more courage and economic redistribution to implement it. But when the situation is as serious as it is now, all means must be used so that we can tackle the problems.

Since 2015, the police have received a significantly increased budget, something that has been prioritized because the police's work is so important. But the social services, which have an at least equally crucial mission, are instead forced to carry out enormous cuts. That the government does not prioritize investing in the social services is a very dangerous choice in these serious times.

Vänsterpartiet now expects that every word coming from the government parties regarding social services is supported by financial coverage. Otherwise, we will never be able to stop the terrible violence or be able to give children the support and help they are entitled to.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Martina Johansson (C)

Mr. Speaker! Children and young people are our future. They are not born criminals, even if it sounds that way in the debate. We must be able to hold two thoughts in our heads at the same time. We must be able to provide support to families with small children, slightly older children, and young people. It is about support for parents when care is lacking, but also about support for children with disabilities and their parents. It is about cooperation between different organizations – maternity care, childcare, preschool, school, social services, and civil society. Here we have a great deal of work to do. We must work with more early interventions for all families who need it to counteract children and young people suffering due to mental ill-health. It leads to depression, missed schooling, and sometimes to suicide attempts.

Centerpartiet argues that a significant competence boost is needed across the country. The social worker education needs to be reviewed so that those who graduate from it are properly equipped to meet small children and their families, but also young people. There needs to be a good introduction for those entering their first workplace, and opportunities for further education must be provided. National guidelines are needed here so that it becomes uniform across the entire country. More research is needed. SBU has shown that there are knowledge gaps. At the research school, research is conducted on things other than what SBU sees, so there is a need for more research. How information is shared across municipal boundaries when children are at risk of harm may also need to be reviewed. The municipalities must dare to prioritize these activities. Sometimes one might have to skip a pothole in order to be able to allocate resources to the social services.

Mr. Speaker! The care of children and young people shall occur as an exception and only if early support to the families is not sufficient. In that case, it must be ensured that there are foster homes that are given good training and a register of which foster homes exist. We also need to address this nationally.

We must ensure that it becomes better for the child or the young person if society takes over the care and upbringing. That is not the case today. We heard earlier about the deficiencies in the activities of the State Institutions Board: violations, sexual exploitation, and incorrect separations. I too would like to see separations prohibited, because as long as they exist, they will be used.

The Center Party also wants to focus on what happens when a placement ends. How has the cooperation looked in advance so that the young person is prepared to either enter adulthood at the age of 18 or return to their original family? In the latter case, the family also needs support.

But even if the child is to remain in the foster home and a transfer of custody occurs, there also needs to remain a support that is not obvious today. Children are not born into criminal behavior, but here society has a great obligation to be there as a support early on.

Mr. Speaker! If I look at what the government, together with the Sweden Democrats, has done so far and what is said in debates, my experience is that one has forgotten the small children and their needs. What is most often heard is a strong and almost one-sided focus on tougher measures, on evicting families with children, on removing social assistance, and on information being able to be shared between different law enforcement agencies. This leads to the question of whether people actually dare to say what they need, whether they automatically know that everything they say is passed on.

Take-overs shall be made on more occasions, and they shall be made by a prosecutor who has not undergone the basic training that we consider important for working within social services. On what grounds shall a prosecutor be able to make these decisions? Does the prosecutor have the possibility to also make a placement and then follow up on the placement to see if it became better at a take-over? Competence-enhancing measures are required, and then the question is whether we should put a prosecutor in here.

The government may have great ambitions - I have worked together with the Minister for Social Services myself, and I know that she has great ambitions - but I am still worried that it will not be enough. It will be overshadowed by much else happening in the government's name where I perceive that one is unable to have two thoughts in one's head at the same time.

Children have the right to be heard, both when they are young and when they are older. We need to review complaint mechanisms, among other things at the National Board of Institutions. Children are individuals with their own rights, and we need to strengthen these.

With that, I move for approval of reservation 26.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Ulrika Westerlund (MP)

Mr. Speaker! Last week, the Riksdag's cross-party children's rights network organized a much-anticipated seminar. It concerned the recommendations that the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child gave to Sweden after the latest review. Present in the Chamber were several of the organizations that contributed to civil society's report on the state of affairs in Sweden.

There were many fine speeches, and they have been mentioned by some previous speakers here today. A couple of them particularly stuck with me, including one from a representative of the organization Knas Hemma. She described various experiences of ending up in the society's care and not having good experiences of it – not feeling safe and cared for. She concluded with the words: You have a responsibility to ensure that I get a safe upbringing. That is a good starting point for today's speech.

There are many acute problems affecting children in Sweden today, and we must become significantly better at meeting children's needs for support and interventions. All children have the right to a safe upbringing, and when parents are unable to manage this, society's capacity becomes absolutely crucial. Social services, but also schools, child health centers, and maternal health centers must have the resources and opportunities to carry out necessary interventions in time. Otherwise, we simply do not ensure all children's right to a safe upbringing, and we do not ensure that all children get the chance to develop into their best selves. The municipalities' cries for money must be heeded.

Mr. Speaker! The Convention on the Rights of the Child has been Swedish law since 1 January 2020. But Sweden has still not ratified the third optional protocol to the convention. It would make it possible for children who experience that their rights have been violated to complain directly to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. One of the most important tools for realizing children's rights is precisely the possibility to demand these rights and obtain redress. An inquiry is currently working to review children's opportunities to demand their rights, and there, the ratification of the third optional protocol is an important part. Miljöpartiet will follow the inquiry's work, and we want Sweden to promptly ratify the optional protocol.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child also highlighted the lack of an independent complaints mechanism in its recommendations to Sweden. The committee argued that we should simplify the procedures for submitting complaints within existing mechanisms and ensure that all children know that they have the right to submit complaints and receive the necessary support to submit complaints. In light of both the very recently revealed conditions at the Sis homes and other previously reported conditions regarding children in social care, this is obviously something absolutely necessary. Another investigation into neglect should not be required.

During the seminar that the children's rights network organized last week, a representative for the organization Maskrosbarn also spoke. She told about her own experiences and about why a child-friendly complaint mechanism was needed. I thought I would recount a part of her speech. She told: I am one of many children who did not have an adult who wanted, could or had the opportunity to fight for me when I met an authority. It was also the main reason that I met these authorities - that I did not have enough safe adults in my vicinity. I was also not old enough to fight for myself, and I did not feel that I had much to say about what they changed in my life.

A little later she continued with these words: I would like you to imagine that you are 13 years old and that for the very first time you have told an adult how you have it at home, with parents who subject you to violence. So now you are sitting at a meeting at the social services, and you are terrified of what will happen. Will you move from the home that is not good at all but which is the only one you have ever had? Will they tell your parents? Will you be moved far from your school and your friends? What do you dare to say to the social secretary whom you have never met before? Wouldn't you also have wanted to have an adult by your side, who supported you, fought for you and told you what rights you have?

Mr. Speaker! Finally, I want to raise a few more areas that today's debate touches upon. Miljöpartiet believes that it must be noted that children and young people who are placed with support of LVU due to sexual exploitation have been subjected to an abuse. The support for these children and young people must be designed accordingly. The Government should task an appropriate authority to investigate whether the circumstance that someone has been subjected to sexual exploitation is a reasonable ground for placement in a special youth home.

Another area I want to raise last in my speech concerns international adoptions and the situation for internationally adopted children. Also in this area, a parliamentary seminar was recently organized where several different organizations presented their demands. Among other things, the need for the right of access to documentation regarding one's own case was raised.

The Green Party considers that the government should allow an inquiry to be appointed on how international adoptions should be organized, approved, monitored, and followed up, as well as the need for constitutional changes regarding archives and documentation of adoptions to Sweden. It should also be investigated how the support for the internationally adopted should look and who should be responsible for this. There is currently an opportunity for support for adoptees who are searching for their roots, but a review is also needed of the need for specific support for those who discover that their adoption was carried out in an incorrect manner. Documentation regarding adoptions shall therefore be able to be provided to an adopted person. The government should take measures in all these areas.

I move for approval of reservation number 38, but I naturally stand behind all reservations from Miljöpartiet.

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(A decision was to be taken on June 14.)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)