Finland

The Finnish employment services were reformed in 2022 in accordance with the so-called Nordic labour market service model, where jobseekers must apply for four jobs a month to maintain their unemployment benefits. Jobseekers should also receive individual support at an earlier stage and more intensively (Laki julkisesta työvoima- ja yrityspalvelusta annetun lain muuttamisesta, 2021). The model is still in its start-up phase, so results on its effectiveness are not yet available. However, there have been challenges in its implementation and the unemployed have not yet received the support promised by law (Londén et al., 2023). The second reform will come into force in 2025, when employment services will be transferred from the state to the municipalities.

A typical labour market service path for people with partial work ability starts with rehabilitative work activities and proceeds through a work try-out to wage-subsidised work. Sometimes these measures also include elements of competence development. The Act on Rehabilitative Work Activities (Laki kuntouttavasta työtoiminnasta, 2001) lays down measures to improve the chances of individuals receiving labour market support or social assistance based on long-term unemployment to find employment in the open labour market. The service package for rehabilitative work activities must include services that promote the person’s life management, working ability, and functional capacity. Services may include individual and group activities that can be carried out in different contexts and set-ups. The service must always include the support and guidance needed by the unemployed person, and is provided as a personal or group service.

The so-called wellbeing services counties must organise substance use and addiction treatment for the residents of their area. This entails: 1) guidance and counselling within healthcare services on substance use and 2) prevention, research, treatment, and rehabilitation of substance use and other addiction disorders as diverse services. Substance use and addiction treatment must be planned and implemented in such a way that it forms a functional entity with other social and healthcare services. Substance use and addiction work in social welfare reduces and eliminates factors related to substance use and addictive behaviour that endanger wellbeing and safety and support detachment from addictive behaviour (Terveydenhuoltolaki, 2010; Sosiaalihuoltolaki, 2014).

Instead of specific employment services targeted at people with substance use problems, the Finnish labour market model provides measures for people with partial work ability. This broad concept of partial work ability refers to people who have a temporarily or permanently reduced working capacity. Individuals with substance use problems are thought to fall at least partly into this category. In addition, there are more negative attitudes and prejudices associated with employing people with substance use problems than with people with partial work ability for other reasons (H. Raivio, personal communication, April 27, 2023).

A person with substance use problems often needs both employment and social services as well as education and training to find a job. However, current service structures in Finland are fragmented and multi-level. The Employment and Economic Development Offices (TE Offices) are the central government agency responsible for organising labour market services, which will be transferred to municipalities in 2023. In addition, municipal employment services provide guidance, counselling, and training services for the unemployed. A range of services are also available in educational institutions and in the private and third sectors. Responsibility for organising social welfare and healthcare was transferred from municipalities to wellbeing counties from the beginning of 2023. The 21 wellbeing counties are also responsible for mental health and substance use services.

In practice, this means that those with a substance use problem would need to have a good handle on organising services from the different sectors for themselves. This poses quite a challenge. The current structures do not support intersectoral cooperation even at municipal or national levels, which stands in the way of integrating services in the public sector. People with substance use problems, like many other people in difficult labour market situations, would need individualised and tailored services (Salmi, 2021).

It emerged in an interview with a hands-on expert working with people with a criminal and substance use background that the current services are designed for people who are doing well in the service system. The TE Offices’ framework focuses solely on employment and job placement, making it impossible to meet the client holistically. Social and communication skills are essential to ensuring that people with substance use problems are listened to and receive adequate support. The employee interviewed was particularly concerned about the sanctions in the system:

The system is also very punitive. For example if a person cannot engage with the service because of their life circumstances, they are sanctioned, and the sanctions further reduce the motivation to comply with the service rules. [Information about the] sanctions and the person’s history also remain in the system, so that even a rehabilitated person’s services are affected by old sanctions (R. Kypärä, personal communication, May 4, 2023).

However, the Finnish service system is undergoing change. The social and health services reform came into effect at the beginning of 2023, transferring responsibility from municipalities to regional authorities known as wellbeing counties. The experts interviewed for this report had mixed views of the impact of the reform: while they believe that multidisciplinary cooperation will improve and many problems will be solved, they doubt that any change will take place:

In the field of mental disorders, for example, there is a danger that the treatment providers treat patients in a very supportive manner and that they do not see employment possibilities. They are afraid, for example, that their clients will meet with a new or new kind of disappointment again. Still, a reform is quite possible. There must be something to maintain functional capacity or work ability. It would be essential to find employment in the right kind of job in terms of normal paid work (J. Karjalainen, personal communication, April 28, 2023; M. Kesänen, personal communication, April 27, 2023; H. Raivio, personal communication, April 27, 2023).

The need for service integration and cross-sectoral cooperation is well recognised in Finland. To address this challenge, and to promote the employment of people with disabilities in general, the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health worked together to implement the Work Capacity Programme in 2019–2023 (T. Oivo, personal communication, May 11, 2023). The aim of this ambitious programme was:

The programme included several measures in the sectors of both the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. Given that the programme has just ended, it is difficult to assess the uptake of the measures. Below are two examples of measures in the Working Capacity Programme that, once in place, will have an impact on services for people with substance use problems (Oosi et al., 2023).

The remit of the work capacity coordinators was set and their training began before the launch of the Working Capacity Programme. These were expanded during the programme. The number of working ability coordinators was increased so that each TE Office has at least one such coordinator. There are also coordinators in, for example, educational institutions and organisations.

A coordinator’s job description responds to many needs identified in practice, such as the ability to support and assist jobseekers in a broad and multidisciplinary way. The coordinator’s role is to ensure that jobseekers with impaired capacity to work can access all the services needed to help them find a job. An important part of the coordinators’ role is to support the employers in employing people with partial work ability. The key here is to identify the jobseekers’ remaining work capacity. As an essential part of this, the work capacity coordinators have created effective cooperation networks in their own region and intensified cooperation with local businesses (Oosi et al., 2023)

An evaluation of the Working Capacity Programme found that the work capacity coordinators have themselves faced challenges such as partial lack of clarity of priorities and inadequate resources. For example, the objective of creating jobs and cooperation with employers was not met as hoped. Among the positives is that they can now better identify people with disabilities and assess their needs. The work of the work capacity coordinators is seen as making a crucial contribution to the development of professional skills in the field throughout Finland (Oosi et al., 2023).

The Centre of Expertise for Social Enterprises was established in 2021 to improve the operating environment for social enterprises in Finland. A key objective is to promote the employment of people with partial work ability. This includes collecting, evaluating, and disseminating good practices for promoting employment. The centre takes a broad view of partial work ability. The promotion of employment for people with substance use problems is a part of the objective, which means supporting social enterprises whose social mission is to improve employment possibilities (Yhteiskunnallisten yritysten osaamiskeskus, 2023; K. Kumlander, personal communication, May 11, 2023). It is still too early to assess the impact of the centre’s work. There is also the fact to be considered that its impact on employment is intrinsically indirect because of its role (Oosi et al., 2023). 

The Working Capacity Programme was designed to cover the activities of two administrative sectors. In practice, however, interviews suggest that cooperation between ministries and regions is still largely limited. The design of the programme, starting with the interventions of the different departments, did not consider the development of local cooperation. At the regional level, cooperation has been sporadic but successful in places (Oosi et al., 2023).

The IPS model (see Fact box 1) is also used in Finland. As of 2020, IPS has been tested in five regions and will be extended to six new regions in the coming years. The programme is aimed at people with mental health challenges, but as these are relatively common among substance users, the programme is bound to include people with substance use problems, too. To date, the programme has engaged 739 clients, 42% of whom have found employment. The results of the trials do not specify the situation for individuals with substance use problems (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, 2023).

The Employment and Economic Development Office (TE Office) may refer clients to a workplace try-out to clarify their career choice and career options. The maximum duration of the work try-out is 12 months, of which a maximum of six months can be offered by the same employer. At the end of the try-out, the organiser of the work trial must provide the TE Office with an assessment of the individual clients’ suita­bility for work, profession, or field, as well as their working life skills and competencies that need improving (Laki julkisesta työvoima- ja yrityspalvelusta, 2012).

The employment of unemployed jobseekers can also be promoted by a pay subsidy granted to the employer by the TE Office as a contribution to the hiring costs. Pay-subsidised work is to improve the professional skills of unemployed jobseekers and to promote employment in the open labour market. Before a grant is awarded, the TE office needs to establish that the productivity of the person hired with the subsidy is reduced in the available job function due to shortcomings in professional skills (Laki julkisesta työvoima- ja yrityspalvelusta annetun lain muuttamisesta ja väliaikaisesta muuttamisesta, 2014).

In dealing with the employment challenges of those with substance use problems, a key role is played by third-sector actors who provide bespoke services and activities for the target group. In Finland the biggest third-sector actors in this area are the A-Clinic Foundation, the Blue Ribbon Foundation, and MIELI Mental Health Finland. Two non-profit employment coaching associations, Silta-Valmennusyhdistys and Valo-Valmennusyhdistys, are jointly building up their nationwide services, which include practical work training and support for life without alcohol and drugs. However, as both are relatively young organisations, it will take some time to do this nationally. The largest actors have the capacity to project-specific services and their development, while some also provide services organised by public actors through tenders. Organisations and social enterprises also operate in the so-called intermediate labour market, which is situated between unemployment and the open labour market. The aim is to create low-threshold jobs and to strengthen the resources, skills, and qualifications of the unemployed. Many of the employment-promoting services provided by organisations are located between social and employment services (Londén et al., 2023; Oivo & Kerätär, 2018).

An example of an NGO-driven venture is the so-called Keijo model, which created a new kind of expert by experience training for people with a criminal and substance use background. The model emerged from cooperation between Silta-Valmennusyhdistys, Valo-Valmennusyhdistys, and the Laurea University of Applied Sciences. Compared to similar training models previously, the new training was longer, and the result was based on experiential expertise and its extensive professional utilisation. The overall aim was to promote the employment of the participants in as many ways as possible. A key objective of the development work was for the model to be positioned as a part of the formal education system. The central idea is that people with a criminal background can act as peers to each other and, as experts by experience, be involved in developing the services further. The model also calls for close cooperation with intermediate labour market operators (Salmi et al., 2020).

The current policies seek to level the polarisation of Finnish society in that all programmes strive to integrate as many people with partial work ability into the labour market as possible. There is a lot of good will in these programmes and policies, but the different administrative sectors still seem preoccupied with silos of their own, which appears to drive the actual outcomes. People who have problems with employment due to substance use tend to fall between social and employment services. The problem has been recognised over the years but many good models are largely based on the work of the third sector which can operate outside and between the silos. The drawback in the NGOs’ work is that it is usually based on project funding. The health and social services reform and the new wellbeing counties are expected to give a boost to cooperation between different administrative sectors.