Over the weekend the organisation received 13 enquires from prospective foster families—up from one per week, which is the usual level of interest. More people than usual have also made online requests for information packets on foster parenting.
“The increase is so great that there’s no other way to explain it,” said secretary general Hanna Markkula-Kivisilta of Save the Children Finland.
The current dearth of foster families in Finland has left thousands of children whose parents are unable to care for them on waiting lists. This weekend Save the Children Finland is launching a campaign that it hopes will help recruit new foster parents.