Children’s homes

A homely and communal environment in which to grow

Save the Children’s children’s homes are homely child protection facilities each with seven places for children that provide foster care. The children’s homes are intended for children of school age, a time when they need a safe and stable community and the support of professionally adept adults for their development.

Save the Children runs four children’s homes: Raunila in Jyväskylä, Ritvala in Vääksy, Suvikumpu in Turku and Tyrsky in Vantaa.

There is a special children’s home, Tirlittan in Kaunainen, which is specialised in symptomatic child psychiatric care.

There is also the Pärske youth home, located in the grounds of the Tyrsky children’s home in Vantaa.

A family rehabilitation service operates from the grounds of the Suvikumpu children’s home in Turku.

Individual care and secure attachment

The children have often had previous child protection placements, and some come from a child or youth psychiatric facility.

Our aim is to ensure the best possible conditions for children to grow and develop. We treat all children as a unique individual, and we listen to them, involve them in planning their lives and take into account their needs and capacity. Their relationship with their own carers helps create the scope for secure attachment.

Cooperating with families and loved ones

It is important to maintain and strengthen the contact and continuity of relationships between children and their parents or others close to them, and to have activities for family rehabilitation.

At the children’s homes, we carry out “bridge” work with children, their parents / loved ones and the children’s carers. Staff at the children’s homes are trained as instructors for such activity, which helps children build their own complete life stories, by creating a “bridge” between their past, present and future. This also draws on the interaction between the children’s own homes and the children’s homes. We also use other methods for family work, while respecting the wishes and capacity.

Becoming independent and after-care

The aim is that young people learn early on and adequately those skills that they will need after leaving the children’s home. Save the Children has apartments at its disposal where young people can safely exercise their life skills. The children’s homes also use an “independence plan”, which acts as the basis for planning after-care.

Professional staff

The children’s homes are run by a professional, highly trained staff, who maintain their professional skills by attending follow-up training courses, regular individual and group work guidance and consultations with a child psychiatrist. Save the Children’s chief medical officer acts as a consultant child psychiatrist. A director based at the headquarters of Save the Children oversees the work of the children’s homes, which is supported by our specialist services, finance and personnel services, lawyer and children’s homes management group.

Quality evaluation and development

Our children’s home activity was awarded a quality recognition in October 2012, in line with the Social and Health Care Quality Service (SHQS) criteria. This is based on regular self-assessments as well as internal and external auditing. We also use survey questionnaires for children, parents and social workers to further the evaluation and development of the work of the children’s homes.

Important benchmarks

• Children’s participation
• Homely environment
• Individuality
• Communality
• Cooperation with parents
• An accepting environment
• Continuity
• Reliable professionalism
• Continual quality assessment