Ombudsman for Children in Finland

Press release 9 November 2011

Finland's Ombudsman for Children, Maria Kaisa Aula, considers Finland's current disability policy to be too adult-centred. She is pressing for greater progress in the co-ordination of the Services and Assistance for the Disabled Act and the Act on Special Care for the Mentally Handicapped, and demanding incorporation of the child and family perspective in the new legislation.

"A child impact assessment must be performed on the new legislation. We must ensure that children with special needs and their families obtain the necessary support and services regardless of where they live," says Maria Kaisa Aula.

Professional practices and attitudes also affect the everyday lives of disabled children, apart from the legislation. "Children are often seen primarily as targets for services that are determined by their various diagnoses. A child with special needs should be seen first as a child - a child with the right to live, participate, make friends, learn and play as appropriate for the child's age," says Maria Kaisa Aula, with emphasis.

Over the period 2009-2011 the Office of the Ombudsman for Children mapped the rights of disabled children and children with special needs, and monitored the development of disability policy. This work has now been compiled in a publication in Finnish entitled "Erityistä tukea tarvitseva lapsi on ensisijaisesti lapsi" ("A child with special needs is first and foremost a child"). The aim is to give impetus to the mainstreaming of children's rights as part of Finnish disability policy.

The Ombudsman for Children is demanding greater overall clarity in the organisation of services. Adequate support for everyday life must also be provided for parents, along with expert counselling on how to find the services to which they are entitled.

Informal care must be developed into a genuine alternative for families with disabled children. The child-friendliness of hospitals must also be increased and developed as part of the co-operation between the authorities and actors in the field.

Anne Hujala, Senior Officer from the Office of the Ombudsman for Children and the publication's editor, reminds us that daily life for a family with a disabled child should be the same as in any other family. Obstacles to a disabled child achieving a well-balanced life must be cleared away. This includes anything preventing the right to participate in issues that concern oneself.

"Participation for disabled children must confirm and create opportunities for the children to give feedback on the quality of services," Anne Hujala points out. "The children must also receive information on services that they can understand, including the legal protection they are entitled to."

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has repeatedly demanded that Finland improve the collection and publication of information on the implementation of the well-being and rights of disabled children. The Ombudsman for Children is of the opinion that research on disabled children and youth must also become a regular feature in Finland, so that better information on the well-being of children might provide a more solid foundation for the work on reform.

"A child with special needs is first and foremost a child. Children's rights as part of disability policy" (in Finnish), published by the Office of the Ombudsman for Children, can be downloaded at: http://www.lapsiasia.fi/c/document_library/get_file?folderId=2835211&name=DLFE-16630.pdf


Further information:

Ombudsman for Children
Maria Kaisa Aula
+358 9 160 73985
+358 50 530 9697
mariakaisa.aula@stm.fi

Senior Officer
Anne Hujala
+ 358 9 160 73991
anne.hujala@stm.fi