For foster families

Early-stage support

Early-stage support is part of your ongoing training as a family caregiver and your growth into the role of a foster parent. Early-stage support starts from the day the child is placed with your family and will last for one year. Initial support is provided by the child’s social worker and the worker assigned to your family, who will come by for several home visits. Your family can also always contact the social worker or your assigned worker if you need help and support. 

An indicative framework and themes have been built for the work taking place during the first year of substitute care. However, each family's situation is unique, and the early-stage support can be modified to best meet the needs of your family. 

Early-stage support also includes family community meetings. The purpose of these is for the people closest to the child to get to know each other and to start the cooperation with the child’s biological parents and the child’s other network.

Basic support

After the initial period of more intensive support, your family will receive what is known as basic support. The social worker in charge of the child’s case and the worker assigned to the family caregiver will make regular home visits together and separately, as agreed in advance.

The child's social worker organises the client plan meeting, and the worker assigned to the family caregiver draws up an annual support plan with the foster parents. If you feel the need for more intensive support, please contact the worker assigned to you.

Intensive support

After the early stage, we can provide intensive support for your family in exceptional situations, for example in different challenging life situations or during crises. Intensive support is always fixed-term and structured, lasting up to a year.

We will agree on the timetable, objectives and methods of intensive support together. The worker assigned to your family will record the plan in your family caregiver’s support plan. The period of intensive support will conclude with a final assessment meeting for the intensive support work. In this meeting, we will jointly assess whether the support was sufficient and agree on a follow-up plan.

If you feel the need for more intensive support, please contact the worker assigned to you.

As a family caregiver, you will be assigned a dedicated worker who will support your family through the different stages of substitute care. The worker assigned to your case will be the social instructor with whom you will draw up the family caregiver’s support plan. You will meet the worker assigned to you already before the child is placed into your care.

During the substitute care, your worker will meet with your family regularly in your home and attend other meetings and consultations as agreed. The worker can advise your family on parenting issues and support you in promoting the objectives set out in the child's client plan. At the same time, the worker will make sure that the best interests of the child are respected in your home. 

The worker assigned to you will also assist with the practical aspects of the commission contract. The worker is responsible e.g. for arranging changes to caregiver's fees and compensation for expenses.

You can always reach one of the assigned workers through the on-call services during office hours (Mon-Fri 8.00–16.00). You can always call the number if you have questions, need support or want to talk. 
 

Call the dedicated workers' on-call services(Link starts a phone call)

Our family care psychologists specialise in themes of family care and topics related to the safe development and growth of children. The psychologists are there to support you when you face problems with issues such as raising a child, family interactions or your own ability to cope. 

The psychologists will help your family to establish safe and open communication and build a secure attachment relationship. They work together with the workers in charge and are involved in e.g. early-stage support and crisis work when needed. 

Don't hesitate to contact the psychologists of family care by calling the helpline (Tuesdays 13.00–14.00 and Wednesdays 9.00–10.00, tel. +358 9 310 431 92) or by requesting contact through the worker assigned to your family.

Call the family care psychologists helpline(Link starts a phone call) 

We organise group work guidance for family caregivers, giving you a chance to share your thoughts about your role. The group can give you support and insights into different challenges of parenting, interaction and coping.

Work guidance is a process that usually takes 1–3 years. The worker assigned to you will usually attend the first work guidance meeting and the work guidance assessment. For more information on work guidance, please contact your assigned worker.

If necessary and for special reasons, we can pay for family caregiver’s individual work guidance for you.

Work guidance is not intended for crisis situations. In case of a possible crisis, please contact the child's social worker and your assigned worker.

In the early stages of family care or in challenging situations, you can also get mentoring, i.e. support and advice from an experienced foster parent.

Mentoring is one form of support for family care. Mentoring is a two-way interaction based on trust: both parties are bound by confidentiality. To the person being mentored, the mentor is a peer, a listening ear, someone who shares quiet knowledge and experience, walks beside them and shares and verbalises day-to-day experiences. 

A mentoring contract is drawn up to agree on the work’s duration, objectives and meetings. In most cases, the mentoring relationship lasts about a year, with meetings once a month on average. For more information on mentoring, please contact your assigned worker. 
 

As a family caregiver, you are not employed or an entrepreneur. Instead, you sign a commission contract with the City. In the commission contract, we agree with you on terms such as the duration of the care period, your fees, compensation for expenses and the leaves you are entitled to as a family caregiver.

We will pay you a fee and compensation for expenses for the care you provide. The fee is compensation for the care provided, and the compensation for expenses covers the costs of the client’s stay with you. We pay foster families' fees and compensations on a monthly basis. For temporary family care, the fees are per day.

The commission contract is binding on both parties. Neither contract party can unilaterally change what is agreed. If your family needs to make changes to the contract, please contact your assigned worker. They will assist you with the practical aspects of the contract, such as arranging changes to care fees and compensation for expenses.

You can always reach one of the assigned workers through the on-call services during office hours (Mon-Fri 8.00–16.00). You can always call the number if you have questions, need support or want to talk.

Call the dedicated workers' on-call services(Link starts a phone call)

The Department of Financial Management Services (Talpa) takes care of both the payment of caregiver’s fees and the compensation for expenses.

The caregiver's fee and compensation for expenses are paid in arrears, on the last working day of the month. The sum of your fees and the compensation for expenses are presented in a statement sent to your home, which you should always check. If fees or compensation for expenses are overpaid, they will be recovered, even if the error in question was due to the City of Helsinki.

For questions about family caregiver’s fees, you can contact your assigned worker or the financial management service directly, either by phone or via the e-services.

Go to Talpa's e-services(Link leads to external service)

Call Talpa's central service number(Link starts a phone call)

Read more about Talpa's service hours and service channels on Talpa's contact information page(Link leads to external service)

In your tax return, the compensation for expenses and the caregiver's fees are filed as income. Taxes will be withheld from the total amount, but the full sum of compensation for expenses is entered as a deduction on the tax return. In practice, this means that you will get a full refund of the tax on your compensation for expenses.

Other compensation, paid under different titles (holiday allowance, kilometre allowance, etc.), are taxable income. 
We will automatically receive your tax card from the Tax Administration. Please check that you have selected the tax card for family caregivers’ fees and compensation for expenses in the MyTax service. This tax card is not the same as the tax card meant for paid employment. In urgent situations, you can also submit your tax card via e-services or send it to palkkamateriaali@hel.fi(Link opens default mail program).

More information on the taxation of family caregivers is available on the Tax Administration's website. (In Finnish)(Link leads to external service)