New legislation to strengthen rights and safety of children taken into care

The Care of Young Persons Act is intended to guarantee that children and young people receive the protection and help they need when voluntary efforts are not possible. The current law dates from 1990 and has become outdated and difficult to understand due to a large number of amendments and additions in subsequent years. 

“Today, we are strengthening protection for socially vulnerable children. Children who need protection, support and care must also receive it. The new acts prioritise the safety and stability of children, and strengthen opportunities to protect children from criminality and honour-based violence,” says Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. 

“Society must protect and support children and young people who need it, based on their needs. The new laws will put children’s rights first. Children with strong ties to a family should not be forced to move back to their biological parents whom they hardly know. This is children’s rights for real,” says Minister for Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall.

The proposed new legislation

The new legislation aims to be modern, clear and based on the child as their own rights holder. 

In the draft referral, it is proposed that most of the provisions of the Care of Young Persons Act be retained and transferred to two new acts. This involves one act on taking children and young people into care, and another act on special powers for state-provided child and young people care. The new acts have been modernised linguistically and editorially. The division into two acts makes the legislation clearer and easier to understand. 

Several major changes are also proposed:

• The children’s rights perspective is strengthened, for example by bringing together the rights of children and young people in separate chapters in each act.
• Conditions for taking children and young people into care are amended. This includes being able to better protect children from criminal environments and honour-based violence. 
• The safety and stability of children placed in foster care will be strengthened by the fact that in some cases it will be possible to continue caring for children in a family home with which the child has developed a strong attachment. 
• A restriction is introduced on the custodial parent’s ability to repeatedly request that care be terminated. The aim is to protect children from the worry and uncertainty of repeated examinations of care. 
• To improve children’s opportunities to be heard and to safeguard their rights, the right to public counsel is clarified and expanded under the proposals.

The proposals are based on proposals from several previous inquiries. Most of the proposals have thus already been circulated for consultation. The purpose of submitting a draft to the Council on Legislation's referral is, among other things, to give referral bodies the opportunity to take part in a comprehensive proposal for the new legislation that is proposed to replace the Care of Young Persons Act. 

The deadline to respond to the referral is 19 January 2026. In the draft referral to the Council on Legislation, the legislative proposals are proposed to enter into force on 1 January 2027. After submission, a draft proposition and a bill will be prepared.