The work of the social services

Christian Carlsson (KD)

Madam Speaker! It is not possible to begin today's discussion on the social services' work without starting from the fact that we in the Social Affairs Committee have now finally received the bill on the new Social Services Act. The new Social Services Act will mean the largest social policy reform in Sweden in 40 years, and it is fantastic to see how the new law is already being welcomed and celebrated all around Social Services Sweden. The new law deserves to be mentioned here today because it will seriously be able to strengthen the social services' work.

The social services receive a clearer preventive mandate, and thanks to the Christian Democrats and the government, they also receive a specific crime prevention mandate. This could, for example, involve parenting support programs and continued close cooperation with school, police, healthcare, and community life so that we ensure we catch more young people in time and support parents who need support in the parenting role.

Another important point with the new Social Services Act is that more interventions will be possible without extensive investigations and individual assessments. The social services will simply become easier to contact, and those who need support will be able to receive it more easily. This will free up resources and facilitate preventive work. It creates more tools in the toolbox for the social services, and it makes it possible for more vulnerable people to receive the support they need at an earlier stage – a stage when they perhaps need it the most and are most receptive.

The government has already allocated 8 billion kronor up to 2028 to support the transition so that we get a larger, stronger and more preventive social service. Together with the proposals on strengthened parental responsibility and intermediate measures, new confidentiality-breaking rules between authorities, searchable reports of concern and the development of a social service data register, the new Social Services Act will be able to revolutionize the work of the social services.

I am also convinced that the new start and increased ambition for Swedish social services that the new law entails will also create conditions for a better working environment and better conditions to recruit and retain staff. It is for the simple reason that more social workers will be given the conditions to work in an efficient and knowledge-based way with the fantastic work that they are actually trained for, namely to help socially vulnerable people. My assessment is that many will want to be part of the journey of change toward something better that is now gaining momentum within Swedish social services.

Madam Speaker! One of the stated goals of the new Social Services Act is that every human being shall be able to live a dignified life. In connection with today's motion report, I would like to highlight two things that I consider to be particularly important for people to be able to live a dignified life. The first concerns work. One should feel that they are contributing to the common good, to society, and that they can experience a sense of community at work and the pride that comes with having a job and being able to support oneself and one's family. The second concerns a roof over one's head – a place to call one's home.

Our government is carrying out extensive work so that more people can move from benefits to work. The Ministry of Social Affairs has presented a proposal on activity requirements within the social assistance, which is currently out for consultation. But I also want to highlight the inquiry on drivers and opportunities. Today, the threshold to move from benefits to work is too high. It does not always pay off sufficiently, and the inquiry aims to ensure that it pays off better so that people can enter work more quickly.

There are several ways to do this. One is to let people keep a portion of the support when they start working. Another is to introduce a job premium that increases the economic gain for those who move from social assistance to work. But regardless of which path is chosen, strengthening the incentives to move from benefits to work is a key priority for us Kristdemokrater. It is a task that the government is now taking forward. It is about more children being able to see their parents go to work and more parents being able to support their family.

Madam Speaker! The Government is also working to counter homelessness. The new Social Services Act, with a stronger preventive focus, has the potential to seriously pave the way for better preventive work, also when it comes to countering homelessness, especially if the opportunities to collaborate with other actors such as healthcare and psychiatry, the Tenants' Association, and civil society are seized.

Fundamentally, we have good conditions to counter homelessness if there is a well-designed preventive work locally. One thing, of course, is to have a well-functioning debt counseling that people dare to seek help from in a timely manner. Socialstyrelsen's mandate to propose measures and strengthen the work against evictions of families with children is particularly important. It is also the mandate that Socialstyrelsen, in close dialogue with the municipalities, shall support them in the work so that fewer people will need to leave their homes.

Part of the government's strategy to counter homelessness involves that Bostad först shall be rolled out across the entire country. This is a measure to help homeless people with substance abuse issues. This is something we Christian Democrats are particularly proud of.

The Swedish Board of Health and Welfare's status report for 2024 has shown that 125 municipalities applied to receive the state grant for Housing First before 2024, which represents an increase of approximately 20 percent compared to the previous year. This shows that the government's policy has caused more and more municipalities to move in the right direction. It is, of course, very pleasing. More need to follow suit.

The government has also proposed a clarification that a municipal housing agency may reserve apartments or introduce priority for different categories of applicants, among other things to counter homelessness. For the Christian Democrats, this is an important task that is about facilitating the social services' work and about how we together can in a better way take responsibility for and help some of our society's most vulnerable. It can be about the woman wandering around the city with all her belongings in a shopping cart and about the man on the street who does not know under which bridge he should sleep next night. It is about all people who lack a roof over their heads and a place to call their home.

I vote in favor of the proposals in the committee's report.

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

Gustaf Lantz (S)

Madam Speaker! I was recently at my wife's graduation in Uppsala. She started studying to become a social worker in the middle of life. It has been an intense journey for her, but also for me. I wish that everyone who speaks with contempt in their voice about naive social workers would have the opportunity at the dinner table to discuss it with someone who has come home after yet another day at the social work program.

Between fish fingers and stewed spinach, I have heard about risk factors and protective factors, about laws and regulations, and about Socialstyrelsen's methodological support. I have heard how conversations should be conducted so that a person can find their own motivation – what is called motivational interviewing. I have heard about education regarding parenting and substance abuse. It has not been about loose opinions but about structured knowledge built on research and proven experience. It is not fluff, but important knowledge that can make a real difference.

That I saw 88 eager sociologists walk out from the university square in Uppsala to the notes of Dolly Parton's 9 to 5, each with their diploma in hand, gave me hope. Their knowledge is a force that can make a difference for individual people and our entire society. But the exchange of that force is largely determined by political decisions.

Does the law stop the power of social workers? Is their commitment stifled by long investigation times and detailed documentation? Does bureaucracy prevent them from providing the right help at the right time? Yes, unfortunately, in many instances it does. But on July 1, more of the social workers' power will be unleashed. That is when the new Social Services Act is expected to come into effect. Then, many interventions can be provided without individual assistance decisions with all that entails of time-consuming processes.

We will also receive a social services act that emphasizes the importance of preventive and early interventions. Furthermore, a new requirement is introduced that all activities within social services shall be conducted in accordance with science and proven experience.

The new law is the result of the investigation that Lena Hallengren commissioned, which Margareta Winberg led and which Camilla Waltersson Grönvall finally took to the Riksdag. It could have gone faster because the previous Social Democratic government intended to take the law to the Riksdag already in 2022. But an election loss unfortunately came in between. I am, however, very happy that the law will soon be in place. It has come about through a legislative process where many social workers have contributed with their perspectives and views.

Madam Speaker! The power of social workers to change Sweden also depends on what resources they have. The new Social Services Act needs fuel. Therefore, it becomes important how we prioritize in relation to other things. Now that costs have skyrocketed, it is tough for the municipalities. Inflation spares no one, but some are compensated greatly. Those with the highest incomes are the winners in the government's budget. Unfortunately, the municipalities and regions do not stand on the budget's podium. Those who are to implement the new Social Services Act in the field are forced to go on an economic slimming course.

It is very good that money is coming in the first years for education and organizational adaptation to the new law. It is good to have an instruction manual for the new law. The Social Democrats are included, but we want so much more. It is a will that becomes clear when one reads our budget proposal and compares it with the government's. The money would be needed here and now, but the government chose as it did then and there. Now all these billions are missing.

Madam Speaker! It will be tough for the 88 newly graduated social workers from Uppsala. But social workers are not glass figures. They have not chosen the profession because it is easy. They want to make a difference. They are tough. They are ready to work hard and with commitment. But there are limits.

For over a decade, we have seen workplaces that have had difficulty both recruiting and retaining their staff. It takes a toll on the psyche to have to look over your shoulder on the way home to your own family after having drafted a decision to compulsorily remove the son of a gang criminal. It is not easy to meet clients who have been marinated in a disinformation campaign from Islamist states.

The social workers are at the forefront of all this, and they need to feel that we have their backs. Against this background, we believe that the government needs to appoint a national coordinator for stable staffing within the social services.

Madam Speaker! Something that also drains energy from social workers is to see how the welfare state in some parts has collapsed and to see how people are allowed to fall freely. It takes a toll on professional pride to see how society accepts homelessness. Here, we within politics must consolidate our forces. The government must take new measures for a social housing policy worthy of the name. A home is a human right. Regardless of whether the cause of homelessness is substance abuse, mental illness, or something else, there must be an active society that stands ready to provide support.

Madam Speaker! The new, long-awaited social workers, who are to work with a new and long-awaited Social Services Act, also have an important role to play in the fight against organized crime. It is only if we stop the new recruitment to the gangs that we can seriously turn the development around. Clarification will improve. More will end up behind bars. But young people are standing in line to continue the madness with shootings and explosions. We must give the social workers both resources and tools to be able to intervene early.

Social services must also have tools to intervene when parents oppose measures. Society's reaction to children and young people being involved in crime needs to become clearer and stronger. Now, the investment that we Social Democrats have proposed budget after budget is missing, namely to identify young people in the risk zone of falling into the hands of the gangs.

The social services must be given resources so that they can have not only dropout programs but also U-turn programs. More people must make a U-turn when they approach a criminal life: away from murder and death, away from stress and anxiety, and away from drugs and depression.

Madam Speaker! I look forward to growing old with my wife. I look forward to her becoming a soldier who works hard and purposefully in a tough environment, a soldier who is far from naive and trusting, a soldier with a warm heart and a cool head who believes in both humanity and science.

I move for approval of reservation 6.

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

Malin Höglund (M)

Madam Speaker! Today we are debating the Social Committee's report 18 Social Services' work. I would like to begin by moving for approval of the committee's proposal.

Madam Speaker! I intend to devote my time in the speaker's chair to speaking about the new Social Services Act.

Social services is one of the pillars of our welfare society. It is available when people need help most: when life takes an unexpected turn, when children suffer, when families struggle, and when people are left without a roof over their heads.

Our social workers do an invaluable job every day, but the legislation governing their work is over 40 years old. Society has changed, and now we are changing the law. On July 1, 2025, a new Social Services Act will come into force. It is a law that grants more rights, sets clearer requirements, and above all creates better opportunities for the social services to work preventatively. It is a historic reform aimed at helping more people and helping them earlier and more effectively.

Madam Speaker! The current Social Services Act is based on the law that was enacted in 1982. Today, more than 40 years later, the needs and challenges look different: segregation, insecurity, children being drawn into gang crime, disinformation, and reduced trust in social services. Therefore, a new law is now needed that gives social services the opportunity to work in different ways than they do today. Social services are an important part of the Swedish welfare system. It is through social services that we can work to help those who need our help the most.

Madam Speaker! Sweden faces major social challenges. Segregation and insecurity are growing. Young people are being recruited into gang crime. Mental illness is increasing. Trust in society is decreasing. This is the reality for many in our country. Social services often stand on the front line to handle these problems but have long lacked the tools that were needed. That is why the new law is so important. With it, we create a modern and capable social service, a social service that does not just react when the problems have grown large but that acts early, preventatively, and powerfully.

Madam Speaker! The work of the social services, which is broad and covers a number of different areas, aims to support individuals, families, and groups in society who need help. It concerns children and young people, family support, substance abuse and addiction, mental health, integration, financial assistance, and crisis and disaster relief. In these areas, the social services work to create a safe and supportive environment for citizens and to prevent and solve social problems. The social services are thus an important part of the welfare system and play a central role in promoting social justice and human rights.

Madam Speaker! The social services handle life-critical issues every day - from support for children and young people to help for substance abusers, the mentally ill, and the elderly. But to be able to carry out their mission, they must have the right resources and the right competence. Therefore, we must ensure that more young people train to become social workers. The staff shortage is acute, and it does not only concern the small municipalities. We must create a better working environment so that more people can manage to stay in the profession, and we must give the social services increased protection; no one should have to work under threat and violence. Finally, more cooperation is needed between authorities, schools, healthcare, and civil society. The social services cannot solve everything on their own. A shared responsibility is required.

Given the great attention that the new Social Services Act is now receiving, I have a wish and a hope that more young people will seek out education that leads to work within social services. In several places in the country, there is a great shortage of competence while at the same time the municipalities have a responsibility for their residents and for visitors.

The work of the social services shall be knowledge-based and rest on research and proven experience.

Madam Speaker! The debate surrounding the work of the social services and the need for a new Social Services Act is an important issue that touches upon many aspects of society. The new law aims to improve the protection for vulnerable groups, increase resources for the social services, and create clear guidelines for how the work should be conducted. The purpose of the new law is for the social services to become more preventive, equal, and accessible than they are today – to lower the thresholds and to reach residents early, before the problems have grown large. A new law can provide the opportunity to reform and streamline the work, which in turn can lead to better support and help for those who need it the most.

Madam Speaker! Let me give a concrete example. Last week, when the House was not in session, I visited my home municipality, Mora. There, the preparations for the new law were in full swing, just as in many other municipalities in Sweden. Specifically designated staff have been given responsibility to ensure a smooth transition. Social secretaries I met are looking forward to working more preventatively and see the new law as an opportunity to help and reach more people.

Madam Speaker! The new Social Services Act is a reform that will make a real difference. It will strengthen the protection for vulnerable groups, give the social services more room for maneuver, and make society more just and secure. But it is not enough with just a new law. We must do this together – state, municipalities, regions, civil society, and the business sector. The social services are a part of the social welfare, but they cannot bear the entire responsibility alone. If we cooperate, we can now redraw the map for the entire social welfare in Sweden.

A new Social Services Act is seen as a step towards creating a more just and efficient social service that can meet today's and future challenges. It will have a direct positive impact on the residents of the municipalities, which contributes to a more cohesive and prosperous society.

Everyone needs to help out. It is not just about the social services fulfilling the requirements of a new law. If we do this together with other actors, we can redraw the map for the entire social welfare. Actors such as healthcare, schools, cultural and leisure activities, municipal planning departments and civil society will be important pieces of the puzzle.

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

Mona Olin (SD)

Madam Speaker! Today we are debating the work of the social services. The Sweden Democrats stand by all their reservations, but I move for approval only of reservation 13.

The work of the social services is an important and large part of the Swedish welfare system. The social services help to create security in society. By supporting individuals and families who are having a hard time, the social services ensure that more people get the opportunity to manage on their own.

The social services take care of many important areas, including help for children and young people, support for persons with disabilities, elderly care, substance abuse care and financial assistance. It functions as a safety net for those who need it most and ensures that everyone receives the help they need to be able to live a secure life.

Children growing up under difficult conditions need extra support to ensure a safe and healthy upbringing. Social services have an important role in ensuring that these children receive the care and protection they need. Society must provide certain parents and families with support and resources to help their children achieve the very safe upbringing that everyone has a right to. This can range from open interventions and support in the home to foster care placements or extra help in school. By providing parents with the right support and guidance, social services can contribute to a safe and loving upbringing environment for children. This reduces the risk of children developing, for example, behavioral problems or becoming involved in crime. Early interventions can prevent and alleviate many problems before they grow larger.

Madam Speaker! Public employees, including social workers, are often subjected to threats and violence. To increase safety, secure workplaces, support after severe incidents, and clear routines for handling threats are required.

The Sweden Democrats want to strengthen social services, among other things, through a national specialist education for social workers working with children and young people. Specialist social workers would raise competence and create clearer career paths. We also propose that social service assistants be introduced to relieve social workers, improve the working environment, and enable more qualitative social work.

Madam Speaker! Sweden has had large-scale immigration from countries where honor-related violence and oppression occur, while integration has been lacking. The social services therefore have an important role in protecting children and young people from honor violence.

Reports of concern are based on the Social Services Act and can concern everything from violence and abuse to neglect and family conflicts. The broad definition makes it easier to detect irregularities but can also lead to serious cases not being handled sharply enough.

For example, in the brochure, the National Board of Health and Welfare urges healthcare staff who meet children who may be exposed to honor-related violence and oppression to consider a report of concern in cases of suspected honor oppression rather than always reporting. This also applies in cases of female genital mutilation and virginity checks, situations where a report of concern should by all means be obvious.

The social services have a great responsibility to provide support and help, but it is equally important that the individual themselves takes responsibility for their situation. For the interventions to yield results, commitment is required from those who receive support, among other things by them following up on set plans, participating in programs for, for example, rehabilitative interventions, and actively working to improve their life situation.

The investigation Activity requirements within the social assistance - for work, self-sufficiency and national uniformity is out for consultation, and the consultation responses were to have been submitted to the Ministry of Social Affairs by March 11 this year at the latest. The investigation highlights several proposals that we Sverigedemokrater have advocated for in our policy for a long time. We look forward to the government's continued work with these issues.

The new Social Services Act, in the bill A Preventive Social Services Act - for increased rights, obligations and opportunities, involves very good changes to the social services' work. The Sweden Democrats are pleased that early, preventive interventions shall be prioritized and that the social services' work shall be knowledge-based and conducted in accordance with proven experience.

For the social services to function optimally, cooperation between school, health and medical care, police, and voluntary organizations is required. The new law not only enables this but advocates for stronger cooperation between different authorities. This cooperation will create a better overall picture of the individual's situation and provide more effective interventions.

By working preventatively, the social services can also help to reduce crime, mental ill-health, and long-term dependence on benefits, which is good not only for the individual but for the whole society.

Madam Speaker! The work of the social services is a fundamental pillar in a well-functioning and humane society. By providing support and protection to the most vulnerable, the social services contribute to increased safety and cohesion.

It is positive that several decisions have already been made to improve the efforts for those who need society's support. By investing resources, strengthening cooperation between different actors, prioritizing preventive work, and creating a good working environment for social workers, we can develop a social service that is accessible, sustainable, and effective in the long term.

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

Gustaf Lantz (S)

Madam Speaker! I became so fired up by my own talk about my wife as a prospective social worker that I motioned for the wrong reservation. It should not be reservation 6 but reservation 5. That was all I wanted to say.

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

Lina Nordquist (L)

Madam Speaker! Finally, a preventive social services law is coming! The area we are now going to debate concerns social services in a broad sense, but I cannot imagine anything that is individually more important than the new law. I know that there are many of us who for many years have struggled to get it into place.

The social services are an incredibly important safety net for those who need support, in many different ways. Now we are finally on our way toward social services being easier to reach and easier to get help from when it is needed. People should be able to get help faster without cumbersome means testing every time. Support and help shall be given in line with science and proven experience, and it shall be continuously followed up and developed. The help we receive next year shall be better than the help we receive today, and we shall learn what works and what does not work.

The very best help is, of course, to never even be affected. We Liberals want - and this is on its way with the new law - the social services to work more preventatively and catch needs before they have become too large. Fewer should be subjected to violence, and fewer should end up in truly difficult situations in their lives.

In this area, there are also a number of other things that I want to point out. Social services will naturally be a part of the new strategy against mental ill-health that the government has presented. The whole of society must do its part, but not each one individually but together. The same thing applies to the strategy against homelessness. Homelessness must be prevented. No one should have to live or stay on the street. The Housing First method needs to be introduced nationally. In social planning, one needs to have a social perspective. That strategy will also become very important.

For the social services, it is absolutely crucial to ensure that more people can support themselves and receive their own money in their bank account to use for whatever they want. It is nothing strange to be between jobs – there is nothing wrong with that – but the person who for a long period has no own means of support will not only become poorer and more lonely but also become sicker than we others. It is dangerous to be without work for a long period. Here, the social services are also needed to a greater extent than today to motivate people to attend education, learn the language better, perhaps do an internship if they are far from the labor market, write a CV or in other ways become ready to have a job and earn their own money.

Finally, I want to say that in parallel with the preparation of the new Social Services Act and the launching of the strategies, work has been ongoing to strengthen and support relatives. I think that is almost as important as the entire law itself. Despite the law being so long-awaited, I think the perspective of relatives weighs almost just as heavily.

For incredibly many years, relatives have been almost society's largest professional group but without income, without collective agreements, without working hours and without vacation - no rights at all. It is high time that relatives of people who are seriously ill - even if it concerns people who are briefly but seriously ill - and relatives who are children receive better, statutory support with the right to a contact who can help, guide and support. And, as said: children who are relatives must not be forgotten. They have been invisible for a long time. They have had far too poor conditions and far too poor opportunities to manage in life. Now, that work is also underway.

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

Karin Rågsjö (V)

Madam Speaker! This is truly a long day's journey toward night, I think as I look out over my tired friends here in the chamber.

In a few weeks, we will be debating the proposal for the new Social Services Act. It is a law that we have all been waiting for for many years. I will not go into the Social Services Act and what it looks like or not, but I will wait with that until that debate.

I am myself a trained social worker. My first job was as a field assistant in Huvudsta, in Solna. It was during a glorious period when preventive work was a given in municipalities in various ways. I believe there were 16 of us field assistants in Solna. We were all trained social workers. We collaborated with the social services and sat in their workplaces - yes, we were social workers after all. We worked with youth centers, the police, and the school. We had very many activities with the vulnerable children. We made a difference; that can be seen.

Since the great crisis of the 90s, and this disappeared. Today I do not know how many field assistants remain in Solna, but it is in any case not very many.

Social policy involves a great deal. It can involve homelessness. It is always like this - this is addressed to the Christian Democrats, who raised exactly the issue of homelessness, an issue that I have worked a lot with as a politician in Stockholm - that apartments are also needed. Social projects are not enough.

Today, perhaps we should consider who receives social assistance. That figure has fallen enormously. It can be good to know this when talking about people who have just social assistance.

We can observe that the major change with the new law is that the focus shall be on preventive work. It is very good that the social services can leave the desk where they have sat. We think that is very good. They must also be given the prerequisites for that, that is to say, financial prerequisites over a long period. This is, in a sense, a cultural revolution. It is about working in a slightly different way than has been done previously.

But in a system when it comes to social work, there are often people who end up in the shadows. It can, for example, be people who live in dependency in different ways. We have worked very much with that issue within the left, and we have raised that issue in different ways.

Regarding the new Social Services Act's ambition for preventive work, we see that one must also focus on dependency, so that that part is not lost.

Every parent's nightmare is that their child will go astray and become addicted. If that nightmare comes true, it is a situation that affects not only the entire family but also everything the family does - their whole lives. It is about constantly living in anxiety and not knowing from one day to the next what is happening. That is why it is absolutely crucial that the relative is given the opportunity to be involved in care and interventions to a much greater extent than today, as long as it does not occur at the expense of the addict's entire integrity.

It is very sad that we today, in 2025, still have a very punitive attitude towards those who are addicted.

Parents' support is very important when a young person with an addiction is cared for. It is equally important that the parents, in turn, receive the help and support they need to be able to be available. We therefore want the government to come forward with proposals for legislation ensuring that relatives' right to information, support, and help is guaranteed, so that it does not become a matter of chance.

Madam Speaker! The social inheritance plays a major role for children of parents with addiction problems. Adult children of substance abusers run four to seven times greater risk of their own substance abuse later in life than others in the population. Premature death is two to three times more common among adult children of substance abusers. Every fourth child who grows up in families with addiction problems leaves school without eligibility for upper secondary school. That is twice as many compared to other families.

This is a fairly large group. It is an important group. Given that there are so many children who at some point during their upbringing have lived with a parent with addiction problems, it is important that society quickly provides interventions for the child itself, that the child receives help in time. So that is not the case now. This is voluntary, so to speak. Not everyone has Ersta Vändpunkten, for example. One might have nothing, and then the child is left completely to its own fate.

The problems that may arise are often complicated and can require many interventions. Since it is the child's parent who is ill, it can be extra difficult for the child to get help. The responsible person, who would otherwise be available, is not there.

We believe that something must happen much faster when it comes to the right to own support. We now have a fantastic opportunity, with the upcoming Social Services Act, to achieve a paradigm shift. It gives us new opportunities: to move from acting when the damage has already been done to acting in time with care for precisely these children. We must not miss the relatives and the children and those who stand close to them. Therefore, I move for approval of reservation number 8.

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Anders W Jonsson (C)

Madam Speaker! I react a little when it is said in the debate: We are now going to get a new Social Services Act, and that is probably the most important thing that has happened in a very long time.

The new Social Services Act is truly necessary; there is no doubt about that. But legislation does not automatically mean that we will get a good and well-functioning social service. The social service has, just like the school, healthcare, and elderly care, an enormous challenge. It is about competence and lack of competence.

I must, Madam Speaker, say that I was somewhat inspired by listening to Gustaf Lantz when he described the enthusiasm that a newly graduated social worker experiences when finishing their education. But my thought is: What is the reality that the newly graduated social workers actually face? We have very large concerns, and the new Social Services Act will not completely solve them.

I am thinking about when one arrives at their first job. Very many of the municipalities do not even have substantial induction programs for newly graduated social workers. The social workers arrive at a reality where they are immediately expected to jump in and start working. It is not at all like it is in many other professions, where one receives an induction for months and perhaps even, in some cases, half a year.

There is also something else that one encounters in reality as a social worker within the social services. It is that there are no requirements for competence development. We have seen this in healthcare as well. This has led to us as politicians actually saying that it should be statutory. This should be organized. Within healthcare, one should have the right to competence development. This must also apply in the social services.

There is one more thing regarding the staffing situation. This is a bit of a social services package, which we in Centerpartiet have raised on several occasions. It concerns career opportunities. If one arrives as a newly graduated social worker at the social services in a smaller municipality and, by some chance, stays for 30 years, the risk is very great that one stands in exactly the same place and treads water and has approximately the same work tasks.

I believe that the state must step in with a social services package, aimed at the staff, to organize these parts. One would wish that the municipalities were competent and strong enough to solve this themselves, but if not even the regions can solve these issues regarding healthcare personnel, the municipalities also need help.

The second area, where the state must intervene, concerns a challenge within social services. It is that we do not know what we are doing, that is to say, there are no evidence-based methods in the same way as there are in other areas within the welfare system. In pedagogy, there are more evidence-based methods than there are within social services. And in healthcare, very much is based on research and proven experience.

It is not new that it looks like this in the social services; it has been this way for very many years. This is partly due to the academic tradition that exists within the discipline of social work. We do not have at all the type of studies at our institutions that are possible to then use in practice.

It is a great pleasure, I think, that the new Social Services Act contains very clear provisions regarding evidence-based work, but in order to be able to work evidence-based, there must also be evidence-based methods.

The government should already now organize so that not least SBU, but also Socialstyrelsen, are tasked with beginning to develop the knowledge support that must exist. They exist to some extent already today, but it must become significantly better.

The third area concerns that which is now also beginning to arrive. In a situation where there is very weak evidence, one must have effective methods so that one can follow up and see what results a measure produces. I am, of course, talking about quality registers. There are embryos of it. The Government has taken certain initiatives, but this must be properly bolstered. We will, in fact, not in the near future have enough research to be able to have evidence-based methods that the social services can work with. Getting real, sharp quality registers in place within the social services is therefore extremely important in order to be able to reach the goal of evidence-based work.

The fourth and final area has also been highlighted by other speakers, namely that it is an incredibly tough reality one encounters in the social services, with threats and violence. There is also every reason for the state to intervene with additional safety-creating measures, in the same way as for other professional groups, and to identify where the threat environments are and what we can do both so that one can anticipate possible threats and so that one can get help in such a situation.

Social services are a large part of the solution to the problems that Sweden has found itself in. By that, I am of course thinking of gang crime and the deadly violence. In the chamber, we focus very much on what we can do when young people have become trapped in the gang criminals' violence. In that case, we have a number of measures that we have decided on here. From the Center Party's side, I would wish that we had focused at least as much on how we, by supporting social services, can ensure that the young person does not end up in the gangs' clutches in the first place.

I vote in favor of reservation 3.

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

Nils Seye Larsen (MP)

Madam Speaker! Before I forget, I shall move for the approval of the Miljöpartiets reservation 11 under point 4 regarding supply support and other measures.

There has been a lot of talk about the new Social Services Act, and I also look forward to it being implemented. However, I choose to debate it when the time comes here in the chamber.

I thought I would take the liberty of speaking about the social services' role in a safe society and the work we have done in Umeå, the municipality I come from. Umeå has been named Sweden's safest large city and is the only large city without vulnerable areas. Umeå has also been named the city that is best to live in.

When we talk about the preventive work, the safety work, and the work for our children and young people, the social services play a very important and decisive role, but as part of a larger whole. One cannot ignore the other surrounding factors in order to give the social services the right conditions to work and operate, for example, for children who are starting to slide and get into problems and for whom we need strengthened interventions, or for families who need help and support. Here, other components also play a role.

When we received indications of tendencies toward concern, we had cooperation, and there, the social services once again played a decisive role. But this also occurred as part of the planning of society – to ensure that we avoid segregation and have mixed housing forms in different districts, to ensure public utility and ensure a strong role for public utility etcetera. We also ensured that civil society worked in harmony with the social services and that the social services had the economic conditions to be able to work with fieldwork and other things.

The competence shortage is a challenge. I am very happy to hear these kind words about social workers, because they do an enormously important work. The worst thing we can do is to burn them out by letting so much fall on the social services - they don't grow on trees. But resources are needed.

One must understand that the municipalities and regions all over Sweden that want to work with these issues have great competence and a great knowledge regarding the local conditions. What we would need more of are general grants and support to the municipalities rather than targeted grants, so that one can work to strengthen the projects that can succeed and the methods that can best be used right there.

I intended to go into some of the motions being discussed in the report on the social services' work and then start with the question of social assistance.

Growing up in a family living on social assistance is to live with constant economic vulnerability. For these children, it means a lack not only of leisure activities but also of the most fundamental – the opportunity to feel like a part of society, to be able to go to the cinema with friends every now and then, to go to a birthday party or to have the clothes needed to participate in the school's outdoor activities. What should be a self-evident matter for all children becomes an unattainable dream for many.

Miljöpartiet wants to raise the national standard for the maintenance support. It is a short-term solution but a necessary one to give families better opportunities to participate in society on equal terms. In the long term, more people must be able to support themselves. Having a job does not only mean an income but also freedom, independence, and a sense of participation.

Today, there are threshold effects that make it not worthwhile to take a job because the social assistance decreases at the same rate as the income increases. The government's solution so far has been to further reduce the support in order to force people to take even the lowest-paid jobs.

We mean that it is a dangerous path to take. It risks crushing the belief in the future and creating even deeper exclusion. We want to see instead a reform where households moving from social assistance to work are allowed to keep a part of the support during a transition period. It must always pay to take a job, even if it is part-time. We must give people a way into the labor market without punishing them financially on the way there.

Madam Speaker! Homelessness is also one of the most acute social problems we face. In 2023, 674 children were evicted in Sweden, which was then a record high number. Despite the fact that we have a zero vision for evictions of families with children, we see an alarming increase. Behind every figure is a child who has lost their home, their security, and their social environment.

We know that insecure housing conditions negatively affect children's health and schooling. Still, this happens time and again.

The municipalities and the social services have a crucial role in preventing evictions and helping families find long-term housing solutions. Today, however, the legislation is too narrow – we truly have to hope for the new Social Services Act. The social services can only help homeless people with special difficulties, which means that many families with children fall between the cracks. We want to give the social services an expanded responsibility to assist all families with children in homelessness, even without social problems.

Furthermore, landlords must be given a clearer responsibility. Today, social services are usually contacted only when the eviction is already a fact. We believe that landlords should be obliged to inform social services as soon as a tenant is at risk of being evicted. In this way, social services can act in time and prevent families with children from ending up on the street.

When evictions do occur, we must have functioning solutions. We want to introduce a narrow time limit for how long children may stay in emergency housing in accordance with the Children's Ombudsman's proposal. We need more transitional housing that leads to a place on the regular housing market, and we need a national action plan for housing supply.

Madam Speaker! Children should not have to worry about where they are going to live. Children should not have to feel left out because the family's finances are not sufficient. It is the task of politics to ensure that all children get a secure upbringing with the opportunity to participate in society on equal terms. Let us take that task seriously!

(Applause)

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(A decision was to be taken on 19 February.)

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