The government has pledged three million euros to help Finland's police force tackle juvenile delinquency through preventative measures. According to Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo (Green), children, young people and students have carried an unreasonable burden as a result of this year’s Covid restrictions.
"Those in particular who already had difficulties have suffered even more. The problems for many children and young people have hit their peak. Some young people are already doing very poorly and are expressing their frustration through criminal means," Ohisalo said at a government briefing on Thursday.
The additional budget is intended to increase the authorities' ability to address the problems of young people at the earliest possible stage, said the minister.
As an example, Ohisalo mentioned anchoring, where a team consisting of police as well as social and health experts aim to improve the well-being of young people and prevent them from turning to crime. This is one of the most important ways for the Ministry of the Interior and the police to prevent the marginalisation of young people.
111 million allocated for children, young people
The government announced a third supplementary budget on Tuesday, in which they proposed budgeting a total of 111 million euros toward mitigating the adverse effects of Covid.
Forty million euros has been proposed for pre-primary and basic education and early childhood education, 15 million euros for upper secondary education and five million euros each for liberal adult education and vocational training. An additional four million euros is proposed for higher education.
The funding is intended to offset the effects of Covid, such as added learning difficulties and a decline in student well-being.
Additional funding will also be directed towards improving the availability of substance abuse and mental health services for a total of approximately 40 million euros.