Care The authority Sis is to be “fundamentally reformed”, with a new name and new goals. So says the government at a press conference. The decision comes after harsh criticism of the Sis homes, where children and young people receive inpatient care. Dagens Arena has spoken to Frida Strandberg Landin, chairman of Seko’s Sis group.
The SIS operations have long received criticism for the inadequate care offered to children and young people. Sales of drugs, recruitment to criminal gangs and sexual abuse have long been reported to take place at the residences.
Now the government is launching a special investigation that will determine what a new child and youth care system should look like. Among other things, the authority will get a new name. The investigation is led by the prosecutor Lise Tammand has according to the Minister of Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall designed with the help of a number of children’s rights organisations.
The changes still uncertain
This is happening shortly after the government tasked the correctional service with preparing special departments for people between the ages of 15 and 17 who commit serious crimes. Instead of being cared for in Sis homes, these young people must be placed in youth prisons, according to the government decision from September 2023.
What the future looks like for other children and young people in need of inpatient care is not yet clear, but according to the government there should be an increased focus on healthcare and education.
Just a few days before the government’s press conference took place, one was published interview with Si’s director general Elisabet Åbjörnsson Hollmark in Dagens Nyheter. Åbjörnsson Hollmark believes that the organization needs significantly more money than they currently have in order to be able to help the young people who are placed in the Sis homes.
– If the government really wants us to carry out our care mission safely and securely with the social development we see, then we must have that money, she tells DN.
According to Si’s calculations, it is SEK 272 million.
Seko welcomes the investigation
The Seko trade union’s Sis group is positive about today’s announcement.
– So far we do not know how they want to change the business, but we welcome the investigation. Many who work within Sis see that we need different and better conditions than the ones we have now. We think we may be able to get that now, depending on what the investigation shows, says Frida Strandberg Landinchairman of Seko Sis.
According to Strandberg Landin, the workers of the SIS operations have long had unsafe working conditions and lacked the conditions to really help children and young people.
– With an investigation, you never know what will actually change, so it is clear that it creates concern, but most members would probably say that we need a better work environment and care environment. Several of the things that came up at the press conference are things that are needed. To increase differentiation so that people with different problems receive better adapted care, and suitable premises, for example, she says.
She is more skeptical that young people who commit serious crimes should be treated in the correctional service.
– Our mission is to care and treat. We believe that all children should have the opportunity to receive care and treatment. If you are going to transfer these young people, then you have to redo the entire correctional system, because it is not built to care. Attempts have been made in the past to place young people in the correctional system, and it has not turned out well. The Correctional Service does not want this either. They consider us to be the expert authority in looking after young people, says Frida Strandberg Landin.
