Behind SiS’s request for increased resources is a dramatic increase in the number of young people sentenced under the Act on Closed Youth Care, LSU. According to SiS, this has had significant consequences for the authority.
“A year ago, we had about 50 young people who served closed youth care. Today we have over 100, and according to the forecast, up to 150 places will be needed during the year. This very rapid increase has major consequences for our entire business”, states Elisabet Åbjörnsson Hollmark in the press release.
It is not only a growing number of young people who are sentenced to closed youth care, those who are sentenced have, according to the press release, also committed more serious crimes and been sentenced to longer enforcement periods than before. Of the young people currently serving in closed youth care, more than four out of ten have been convicted of murder or manslaughter, or attempted murder or manslaughter.
According to the press release, the fact that SiS requests increased resources to cope with the situation is due to the fact that the closed youth care is fully financed with state grants. SiS’s other youth care, which mostly consists of those placed under the Act on care of young people, LVU, is financed to two-thirds with fees from the placing municipalities. The remaining third is allocated from the state budget. The extensive conversion of LVU places to LSU places leads to a large deficit, which, according to the press release, erodes large parts of the SiS budget.
“If SiS does not receive increased resources to meet the great demand within LSU, extensive savings and reprioritization will have to be done. We will be forced to close locations because we cannot staff safely and securely, increase group sizes and pause renovations and new builds. This would seriously affect the safety and security of placed children and young people”, underlines Elisabet Åbjörnsson Hollmark.
