0 Girls with mental problems get too little help after compulsory

Girls with mental problems get too little help after compulsory

Young people who leave locked institutional care rarely receive targeted assistance after discharge. Their social and behavioral problems remain largely at follow-up one and two years after undergoing treatment. This applies particularly to girls with serious mental illness. This is shown in a new dissertation in social work at the University of Stockholm.

- The girls who had extensive psychological problems when they came to the institution got very little help with this problem after discharge. The girls feel bad also continued during follow-up, says Maria Andersson Vogel, a doctoral student at the School of Social Work.

In the study, Maria followed a group of young people, 12-19 years, who participated in a vårdkedjeprojekt in order to secure long-term planning of subsequent interventions. It also aimed to strengthen cooperation between particular institutions and social services.

The core of the project was that they placed the young people would be followed by the continuum of care in order to avoid the "fell through the cracks." Special Coordinator hired for this. In his thesis shows Maria Andersson Vogel how the project was very difficult to live up to the objectives. The situation did not get better for the young people who attended than other young people leaving locked institutional care.

- Off distance for the project was very short and incomplete implementation. There was also a resistance in the municipalities, an experience of the coordinators came in as the representative of the State and said that social service work was not good enough, which further complicated the collaboration, says Maria Andersson Vogel.

A common focus of the thesis is the role of young people in gender, class and ethnic background have their problems and for the help they received.

- Institutions have always been adapted for outward conduct criminal boys. The relatively large proportion of girls, with partly different set of problems, fits on so do not put in the care and find it harder to get help, says Maria Andersson Vogel.

The study concludes that it is hard to help young people with serious problems leaving locked institutional care but that it is essential to invest in subsequent targeted interventions.

- All young people that print needs continued support in various forms. Therefore it is important that such support is planned and implemented carefully and methodically, says Maria Andersson Vogel.

Facts locked institutional care
Locked care for young people organized by the special youth homes, which is run by the Federal National Board of Institutional Care (SiS). Each year, placed about 1,000 youths. Most forcibly placed under LVU, but a small percentage of young people at SiS are sentenced to youth custody as LSU.