4.8 Current debates and reforms
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Forthcoming policy developments
Forthcoming policy developments will focus on the early prevention of social exclusion and better support for young people’s mental health.
One of the central initiatives will be to ensure young people’s access to quality health services. The therapy guarantee for children and young people's mental health (in Finnish) will come into force on 1 May 2025, ensuring that all young people under the age of 23 have access to mental health services within a month. In addition, the early recognition of challenges related to wellbeing and marginalisation is regarded as a means of early prevention of youth crime, according to the Ministry of Justice’s Action Plan for the Prevention of youth and gang crime for the years 2024-2027 (in Finnish).
Social inclusion and exclusion are also linked to peace education at the NGO level. For example, The Peace Education Institute (Rauhankasvatusinstituutti RKI ry) has developed Guidelines for anti-racism in Youth Work (In Finnish), in which the active inclusion of all individuals is recognised as an important element of anti-racist practice.
Ongoing debates
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare' webpage Health of immigrant children, young people and families recognises discrimination, racism and difficulties in accessing and using services as key challenges faced by immigrant families and youth.
Furthermore, the Indigenous Sámi, the only Indigenous people in the European Union (Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 2017) have also been found to encounter language barriers when accessing services intended for youth (Laiti 2017, in Finnish). The Sámi Youth Network - Joining Forces (2023-2025), an initiative led by the Saami Council (NGO), actively supports the inclusion, agency, and cross-border cooperation of Sámi youth. At the EU-level, the inclusion and professional support of Sámi youth has been promoted through the Filling the EU-Sápmi knowledge Gaps programme.
In addition, the 2024 Literature review of the political and civic engagement of people who have moved to Finland and of their descendants (in Finnish) states that knowledge-, culture-, and language-based barriers exist when people with an immigrant background strive to participate in local decision-making processes.