Child protection|Hannaleena Immonen considers her work in child protection to be the best in the world. Now he tells what should be done about the plight of young people in Helsinki.
If only someone should fry some buns!
Child protection social worker Hannaleena Immonen has often asked children and young people what a good day would be like. Letut is mentioned strangely often.
Immonen’s place of work is the child protection duty during office hours in Hakaniemi. So he will go anywhere in Helsinki in an emergency, if a child who is already a child protection client is suspected to be in danger.
When you have to carry a newborn to safety from a drug gang, when a parent hits you, when a young person commits a crime.
immo it touches me that those growing up in the most difficult conditions repeatedly ask for small things.
“They want someone to be with them. That we’ll do normal things on the weekend.”
Immonen thought that he and many adults know how to fry buns.
In the interview, Immonen uses the word sossu about himself. On Some, he lists names given by young people as well: sossubro, sossuriepu, social advisor.
So, in the courtyard of the family house Unikko, open-to-all tennis tests were held on Tuesday of last week. There were animals to pet and a fire truck and a program. A large group of volunteers organizing fun for children for no particular reason.
The event describes Immo well, even though it wasn’t even part of his job. When he talks or writes about child protection in the message service X, he is extremely hopeful. He uses the adjective beautiful for his work.
That’s why we asked him to think: how could the problem of children and young people in Helsinki be solved?
Child protection Immonen transferred his curiosity to the emergency room, which only started at the turn of the year.
He has been in the social sector since the 90s, for a long time it meant systematic child protection work in Eastern Helsinki. Last summer, he also worked in Lapland for a couple of months just to see if the young people are different from those in Helsinki.
Were not. Teenagers everywhere are “gorgeous”. Immonen is fiercely on their side and wants to talk specifically about the countless cases in which child protection has helped people.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t see the flaws in his industry.
“I know what a rush is.”
Or exhaustion, or the fact that you constantly have to think about who to help first. But they say you can’t talk about the best job in the world only through fear.
In his current job, Immonen is on call, and helps if a child or young person is thought to be in danger, but their own social worker cannot get to the emergency.
Immonen would call for more factors in child protection and less recording and practical adjustments. He praises Helsinki’s way of handling work in pairs. As well as a wide range of other services, such as support families or the fact that child welfare pays for important hobbies for young people.
But The essence of child protection is elsewhere for him. The employee himself must be available, not a feared authority somewhere behind a lock in the office.
“It’s not easy to pry into another person’s life,” he says.
Trust is needed. I have to meet children, young people and families so often that when there is an emergency it is easy to call or message a familiar employee. The meeting can be a walk or basket match with the young person.
In East Helsinki, Immonen often started Monday with a message to all his young people. Although: Have a nice school day. How are you today?
Some responded immediately, others after a long time. Although: Can we meet? I was bullied at school today. I got a good certificate! Or as one stated several times as a precaution: “By the way, I still haven’t fooled around”
Many young people feel that once they have done something wrong, adults always suspect them.
“I am the one who believes in the young,” says Immonen.
It does not mean that all actions should be allowed. If a young person does something wrong, then let’s think together how it won’t happen again. But someone has to be on the young person’s side.
In the past, social workers were alternately responsible for acute crises in addition to their own work. Now child welfare emergencies during office hours are handled by a new on-call team, to which Immonen is a member.
How then an experienced social worker would really solve the issues that cause trouble for young people?
Let’s talk about parenting first. Immonen’s most popular story on social media describes a situation where a group of teenagers are having a blast in the city. All except the one who clearly goes home by midnight, because mom is waiting and always makes the sandwiches.
“The chief brought my hat,” says another youth. Immonen writes that everyone can be “the sandwich manager” for their own young person.
Parenthood is not easy for anyone, and many have other burdens to carry. Drug addiction, poverty, marginalization, mental health problems or many of these together, for example.
Still, it is between these burden bearers and their children that Immon feels something powerful, which he describes with the word “uniqueness”.
Your own child can be the only good thing in a parent’s life.
“There is a super lot of love, but love is not always enough. It is extremely strong to ask for help.”
But neither parents nor social work together can solve the biggest problems.
All adults are needed for that. The world of children and young people has been shaken. Although the war in Ukraine or the economic crisis shock adults as well, sensitive young people are the most shocked.
“Young people have the basics, a sense of security. In such a situation, adults have to maintain the ground from which they can grow.”
Keeping yourself upright can be small things, those laces and joining the neighborhood kids’ soccer game. The fact that no adult walks past a teenager who is throwing up drunk.
Last year, Immonen received a communication award from the National Union of Children’s Welfare for his activities on social media. He is also making a non-fiction book on the subject.
Helsinki teenagers themselves say that some adults seem to be afraid of them. We even change the side of the street.
“It does not make young people a roadman gang that they move in a group, as young people have always done. And they should make a noise.”
“All young people are all our young people.”
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