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1. Programmes for vulnerable young people

2. Funding

3. Quality assurance

Programmes for vulnerable young people

As mentioned in Youth Wiki/Finland 4.1 General context, the government has made a Government statement to Parliament on promoting equality, gender equality and non-discrimination in Finnish society. The draft of its action plan has been circulated for comments in May-June 2024 and has not yet been published. One of the main target groups of the actions will be young people. Many of the actions will be based on the Government Programme, but there will also be new measures. Realisation of many governmental actions are implemented within the framework of the National Youth Work and Youth Policy Programme 2024-2027 and the National Mental Health Strategy 2020-2030, for example. In general, there are and will be measures related to suicide prevention, equality in education, strengthening the participation and consultation of young people and (social) media education. In realisation of all these, particular attention will be paid to the consideration of young people in vulnerable situations.

In the Finland’s Structural Fund Programme 2021-2027, see STRUCTURALFUNDS.FI,  there is a special objective Equal inclusion - Development of services for children, young people and families and promotion of well-being towards equality for applying for projects with a cross-sectoral approach to increase cooperation between different actors and administrative branches. Its national pilot and development projects focus on the following themes:

• Identifying vulnerable children, young people and families and supporting them in everyday life by preventing cross-generational exclusion and learning disparities, especially families who are excluded from the labour market, have low-income or are otherwise in a difficult position and the children, young people and parents living in these families with active support and encouragement.
• Strengthening the competence of professionals in different fields working with children, young people and their parents by developing operating cultures and practices to promote the healthy coping mechanism and inclusion of children, young people and families and by strengthening the competence in resourceful guidance and support in early childhood education and care, at all levels of education and during transitions.
• Supporting children, young people and their parents to actively and equally take part in cultural and sports services and guided leisure activities

In Finland the structural funds programme is led by the Ministry of Economics Affairs and Employment.

Funding

The exact amount of funding to be put towards the actions of the national programmes mentioned above is not yet known. As mentioned on the website STRUCTURALFUNDS.FI, the EU funding received by Finland from the ESF+ fund for the Finland's Structural Fund Programme 2021-2027 is approximately 602 million euros. When the national public funding is also included, a total of about EUR 1 billion will be available for projects. A total of 23 million euro of that has been reserved for the realisation of the Government Programme, which prioritises the objectives outlined here in 4.1.7 ‘Equal inclusion -Development of services for children, young people and families and promotion of well-being towards equality’.

Quality assurance

Yet to be named are bodies of experts that will evaluate the possible impact of the methods used in above mentioned themes related to suicide prevention, equality in education, strengthening the participation and consultation of young people and (social) media education. Also because many of the actions are part of the Government Programme, the Prime Minister’s Office is committed to following up on their realisation as well. As mentioned on the website STRUCTURALFUNDS.FI, there is going to be a set of indicators and special studies related to quality assurance and the evaluation of the impact of all programs funded by the structural funds.