Social Services: Authorities

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is part of the Finnish Government. It is in charge of the planning, steering and implementation of social and health policy. The goal of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to lead a healthy and socially secure life.

The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) is a research and development institute under the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. THL seeks to serve the broader society in addition to the scientific community, actors in the field and decision-makers in central government and municipalities. The aim is to promote health and welfare in Finland.

Social Insurance Institution, is a Finnish government agency in charge of settling benefits under national social security programs.

Within the Finnish Government, the Ministry of Education and Culture is responsible for developing educational, science, cultural, sport and youth policies and international cooperation in these fields.

In Finland the national administration of education and training has a two-tier structure. The Ministry of Education and Culture is the highest authority and is responsible for all publicly funded education in Finland. The Ministry is responsible for preparing educational legislation, all necessary decisions and its share of the state budget for the Government.
The Finnish National Board of Education is the national development agency responsible for primary and secondary education as well as for adult education and training. Higher education is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Socca, The Centre of Excellence on Social Welfare in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area develops social welfare services in Finland’s metropolitan area while providing a meeting place for social welfare professionals.
We are a network organisation, working closely together with the municipalities in the metropolitan area, as well as with educational institutes. Our task is to develop new methods of working, produce information pertaining to social welfare and conduct research for the benefit of practical application. We also assist social workers by conveying results from development carried out in the metropolitan area.
Our activities are based on the Government Decree on the activities of social welfare know-how centres (13.12.2001/1230), as well as on a cooperation agreement consummated in the metropolitan area. Additionally, the Heikki Waris Institute and VKK-Metro, the metropolitan area early childhood education development unit, operate under Socca.

The Campbell Collaboration is an international research network that produces systematic reviews of the effects of social interventions in Crime & Justice, Education, International Development, and Social Welfare.

The Centre conducts research and carrires out commissioned projects in the area of welfare state policies, and disseminates the results. Its primary task is to generate new knowledge of relevance to society.
The Centre provides: - International research - Independent evaluations - Professional data collection - Consultancy and dissemination - Internationally qualified research studies on the effects of social programmes.