Young people with serious criminal tendencies will continue to get help in the wellbeing services county of Vantaa and Kerava

The vast majority of young Finns are okay, but a small part shows stronger and stronger symptoms. Vantaa intervened with the phenomenon of young people engaging in serious crime in autumn 2020, when child welfare services began the Ri-O project to help young people with tendencies to act criminally, using funding from the Ministry of Justice.

In addition to Vantaa, a new model with young people with tendencies to act criminally has been developed in Turku, Oulu and Rovaniemi. Vantaa’s choice of method to be piloted was MDFT, multi-dimensional family therapy, which is based on strong research evidence. The method has been proven to work, and it can now be utilised in the wellbeing services county of Vantaa and Kerava.

Nine out of ten young people have benefited from the therapy

At the end of 2022, the Ri-O project gathered feedback from client families that have gone through the MDFT intervention. The results of the survey indicate the success of the method: more than 90 percent of the clients stated that they felt heard and understood during the therapy work and that the MDFT therapy helped them.

MDFT is a child welfare service, and the social worker responsible for the child can direct the young person and their family to Ri-O. The social workers who have the responsibility for the young persons in the intervention have also noticed positive changes in how the families act.

Partners give credit to the Ri-O project

Even before Ri-O, Vantaa had good experiences of MDFT intervention. From the year 2018 on, two MDFT therapists have worked in child welfare services with a larger target group with good results.

Young people who are directed to the Ri-O project have usually also been involved with the police and the justice system. Close work between networks is already part of the MDFT intervention, and little by little, the work has become known: during spring 2023, both the police and the prosecutor have reported the effectiveness of MDFT intervention. Cooperation between the project team and the police doing preventative work and the investigation group that began its work in 2022 has been found to work.

Tough experiences behind delinquent behaviour

Studies say that family intervention is an effective working method to prevent juvenile recidivism.

“A young person who commits crimes usually has experiences of violence and other trauma, which have caused a strong sense of insecurity. The young person’s trust in adults has suffered for a good reason”, states MDFT key therapist Jonna Köpilä.

The MDFT intervention has been developed for the care of young people with conduct disorders and problems with drug use and criminal behaviour. The starting point of MDFT is that behaviour is the result of the individual and the environment combined. Instead of an individualistic approach, the help involves the family and other systems and parties affecting the young person’s life, such as the school and a possible foster care place. The intensive therapy process lasts around six months.

The last year of the project begins

The pilot work for the Ri-O project continues until 30 April 2024 within the child welfare services of the wellbeing services county of Vantaa and Kerava. The project team is of the opinion that the good results are a sign that the method works in helping this target group. Instilling the intervention as part of the services offered to juvenile offenders is one of the objectives of the project.

“Previously, there has not been support for this group in the range of child welfare services, and placement outside of the home often remains the only alternative”, says MDFT therapist Katja Vanonen.

“The need for services has been recognized on a national level, both in the National Child Strategy and in the Non-Violent Childhoods action plan”, says project coordinator Päivi Korhonen.

The part of the Ri-O project aimed at young adults ended on 30 April 2023, with good results. In this part of the project a model was created for social work and cooperation with Prison and Probation Service of Finland for young adults with criminal tendencies.

Read more (in Finnish):

• Rikoserityisen sosiaalityön malli juurtuu nuorten sosiaalityöhön | Vantaan ja Keravan hyvinvointialue (vakehyva.fi)

• Vantaan ja Keravan hyvinvointialueella tuetaan rikoksilla oireilevia nuoria koordinoitujen yhteistyörakenteiden avulla | Vantaan ja Keravan hyvinvointialue (vakehyva.fi)