For years now, the Helsinki Police Department, the City of Helsinki Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services Division and the City of Helsinki Culture and Leisure Division’s Youth Services have been carrying out multidisciplinary cooperation to help children and young people who cause disturbances, commit crimes and are at risk of social exclusion, as well as their families, and to develop service processes. The objective of this cooperation is to increase the wellbeing and safety of children and young people, reduce crime and disturbances, and increase the safety and living comfort of Helsinki residents.
“This new agreement and memorandum will clarify and advance this long-running cooperation,” comments City Manager Jukka-Pekka Ujula.
From the perspective of the police, the most important thing is crime prevention, and identifying children and young people who are susceptible to falling into a downward spiral of crime as early as possible, and guiding them towards the services that they need.
“The police are especially worried about the phenomenon of young people under the age of 15 being recruited into criminal organisations, which has been observed in other European countries, occurring in Finland as well. We need seamless multidisciplinary cooperation with the City and different authorities to guarantee the safety and wellbeing of children and young people,” comments Chief of Police, Police Commissioner Jari Liukku.
Anchor provides early support and intervention in the situation of children and young people who commit crimes
Operating in the premises of the Helsinki Police Department, the multidisciplinary Anchor working group is represented by people serving both the Helsinki Police Department and the City of Helsinki. Anchor was founded in 2012.
“This close cooperation between the City and the police always aims at serving the young person’s best interests. By doing things together and with sufficient shared resourcing, a young person in need of help can be provided with a group of professionals who can provide the kind of support needed. The situation of a child or young person committing crimes in particular is often complicated, and it is wise to utilise the understanding and expertise of different professionals and services in an extensive manner,” explains Head of the Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services Division Juha Jolkkonen.
Anchor operations were supplemented with youth work in the autumn of 2023.
“The introduction of youth work into Anchor operations has proven to be a good operating model during the pilot period. The youth workers’ practical ability to consider an individual young person’s natural networks and living environment has been a significant asset. In fact, they have contributed to making our operations more approachable, which in turn has helped us guide the young person towards the right kind of support for their situation,” says Head of the Culture and Leisure Division Juha Ahonen.
Anchor clients are selected by the police, a social work representative and a psychiatric nurse. The next step is to assess the situation and assemble an appropriate configuration of workers, possibly featuring representatives of several professions, for each client meeting. Anchor client relationships are established for children and young people who cause serious disturbances and commit crimes, and their families. The Anchor team also carries out multi-operator domestic violence work.
Anchor aims to identify the reasons for clients’ problems and the operators whose work is required for solving the problems, and then guide these clients towards the services they need. Representatives of other authorities can also be added to the working group.
For the Helsinki Police Department, the memorandum of cooperation and the Anchor agreement were signed by Chief of Police, Police Commissioner Jari Liukku. For the City of Helsinki, the memorandum of cooperation was signed by City Manager Jukka-Pekka Ujula, and the Anchor agreement was signed by Head of the Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services Division Juha Jolkkonen and Head of the Culture and Leisure Division Juha Ahonen.
