The Children's House offers residential periods of different lengths for the duration of informal care leave or for periods of short-term care. We also provide periods of urgent short-term care and demanding multidisciplinary support services. Our services support the coping of families and the independence of young people.
You can apply for our services if:
- your child is a Helsinki resident
- you are serving as an informal caregiver or your child is a client of Disability Services.
You can apply for our services through the social worker of your child's or young person's service area. Their contact details are available at hel.fi/social-work-for-people-with-disabilities
After you are issued a decision on the service, we will organise an introductory visit and book the residential periods with you. This service is subject to a charge.
Contact information:
Our address is Humalistonkatu 4, 00250 Helsinki. We operate on floors 2-4 of the building.
Unit Manager Marjo Laukkanen:
tel. +358 40 6694403
marjo.laukkanen@hel.fi
You can best reach me on weekdays between 9:00 and 14:00.
Senior Instructor Piia Nordström:
tel. +358 40 6411453
piia.nordstrom@hel.fi
You can best reach me on weekdays between 9:00 and 14:00.
Nurse Satu Lumikari:
tel. +358 40 6233586
satu.lumikari@hel.fi
You can reach me Monday to Thursday between 9:00 and 14:00.
Children's House instructors:
tel. +358 40 7264270.
We can be reached via this number around the clock. You can best reach us during morning shifts between 10:00 and 11:00 and during evening shifts between 20:00 and 21:00.
Contact information
Information for children and young people
You can come stay at the Children's House when your parent has a day off or when you need a period of short-term care for some other reason. At the Children's House you can practise living on your own. It is a good skill to have for when you move into a home of your own.
When staying with us, you will have your own room where you can bring things that are important to you, such as toys or music equipment. We also have games and toys that you can use.
While staying with us, you will not attend your regular daycare centre. If you are older than daycare age, you will attend your preschool or school as normal.
We offer varied and good food. You can also practise eating foods that are new to you. Sometimes we also have treat days.
We have nice instructors who will do all kinds of fun activities with you. In addition to indoor play, we spend a lot of time outdoors. Because of this, you should pack some good outdoor clothes.
Information for parents
The child’s parents can present requests regarding residential periods to the senior instructor of the Children’s House. We also plan periods based on discussion with you and the habits and routines form that you have filled, which we ask that you please update approximately once a year in future.
As parents, you can present requests regarding the scheduling of residential periods to the senior instructor. We will try to organise the periods according to your needs where possible. We schedule residential periods for both weekdays and weekends.
Residential periods start at 14:00 on the day of arrival and end at 13:00 on the day of departure. However, on school days, the child may come to the Children’s House directly from school, even if their school day ends before 14:00.
Children’s House Senior Instructor Piia Nordström
Telephone number: +358 40 6411453 (Link starts a phone call)
Email: pia.nordstrom@hel.fi(Link opens default mail program)
Residential period booking schedule
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Periods taking place in December, January and February
- You can present requests regarding periods taking place during these months until the end of September.
- We will do our best to take your requests into account in the planning process and present you with an offer for residential periods during the first week of October. The periods will be offered to you via Maisa or by letter.
- You will also receive an SMS reminder regarding booked periods a few days before they are scheduled to start.
-
Periods taking place in March, April and May
- You can present requests regarding periods taking place during these months until the end of December.
- We will do our best to take your requests into account in the planning process and present you with an offer for residential periods during the first week of January. The periods will be offered to you via Maisa or by letter.
- You will also receive an SMS reminder regarding booked periods a few days before they are scheduled to start.
-
Periods taking place in June, July and August
- You can present requests regarding periods taking place during these months until the end of March.
- We will do our best to take your requests into account in the planning process and present you with an offer for residential periods during the first week of April. The periods will be offered to you via Maisa or by letter.
- You will also receive an SMS reminder regarding booked periods a few days before they are scheduled to start.
-
Periods taking place in September, October and November
- You can present requests regarding periods taking place during these months until the end of June.
- We will do our best to take your requests into account in the planning process and present you with an offer for residential periods during the first week of July. The periods will be offered to you via Maisa or by letter.
- You will also receive an SMS reminder regarding booked periods a few days before they are scheduled to start.
Please let us know in good time if you need to cancel a booked residential period. Cancellations should be reported to the senior instructor by calling the number +358 40 6411453(Link starts a phone call) . In the event of sudden illness, please contact the numbers of the Children's House instructors directly.
We will provide your child with varied meals in line with nutrition recommendations during their residential period. We will encourage your child to try different foods and practise eating meals together. We also have treat days. We take into account children's special diets and allergies, but we ask that you provide medical certificates for any special diets and allergies. No certificates need to be submitted for a vegetarian or vegan diet. If your child has any special wishes regarding meals, we will try to take them into account when ordering food. You can include these on the habits and routines form, which we ask that you please update approximately once a year in future.
The unit has shared iPads and toys for children to use. They are used together with our instructors.
We aim to spend a lot of time outdoors, so it is important for your child to have good outdoor clothes. Laundry and clothes care are primarily the responsibility of the home, but we take care of any laundry that needs to be washed due to secretions or other clothes care required in exceptional situations. Please name tag your child’s clothes so that they do not get mixed up.
At the end of their residential period, all the things that your child had with them will be packed to take back home. Your child will also be provided with a list of all the things that they had with them.
We provide all sanitary products, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoos, soap and moisturising cream.
Please always report any changes in your child’s medication to our unit’s nurse. This will ensure that information about the changes reaches our unit. However, we will always check and compare the list of medicines provided by the child’s home with the list of medicines in the Apotti system and contact the parents in the event of any differences.
The Children's House employs social welfare, health care and education professionals. We engage in cooperation with your family and various networks in a client-oriented manner.
We have staff on-site around the clock, but we can best be reached by phone during morning shifts between 10:00 and 11:00 and during evening shifts between 20:00 and 21:00. You can contact our instructors by calling the number +358 40 7264270(Link starts a phone call) and submit a call request to the person working with your child.