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More and More People Submit Social Services Forms Digitally 

When social services professionals transitioned last autumn to Lifecare, the new client and patient information system, clients gained access to the digital Omapalvelu service channel. An increasing number of clients now submit their applications digitally.

When a client submits an application digitally via Omapalvelu, they can track the processing of their case, and the decision is visible in Omapalvelu as soon as it is ready. 

Filling out an application or form online does not impact the progress or processing time of the case.  

– However, clients can receive the decision faster since they can check it in Omapalvelu without waiting for a letter to arrive by mail, says Senior Social Worker Johanna Koivusaari. 

Digital services can lower the threshold for submitting an application, as it can be done anytime and anywhere that suits the individual, using e.g. a smartphone, tablet, or computer. The same information is required from the client, whether the application is completed digitally or on paper. The digital social services platform is available in both Finnish and Swedish.

Koivusaari, who works in Vaasa, sees digital services as a valuable addition for those who are able to use them.   – There will always be people who need a paper application. Clients are still welcome to visit the social services info desk, where they can get paper forms as well as assistance and guidance for filling them out. We also have a computer here for clients to use to complete their applications. 

Supplementary and Preventive Social Assistance Form Most Used  

Many social services forms were already available digitally before the implementation of the new client and patient information system.  

Over the past year, the most frequently used digital social services form was the application for supplementary and preventive social assistance, which was completed digitally over 1,200 times before the new system’s introduction. Child welfare notifications were submitted digitally over 600 times.  

The use of digital social services increased throughout last year and continued at a similar level from October to the end of the year via Omapalvelu. 

Forms and Applications That Can Be Submitted Digitally: 

  • Supplementary and preventive social assistance, including funeral assistance  
  • Application for disability services  
  • Child welfare notification  
  • Application for family services  
  • Contact with the authority responsible for social services  
  • Application for services for working-age individuals  
  • Notification of the need for social services 
  • Anticipatory child welfare notification  
  • Application for caregiver support for individuals under 65  
  • Mobility support 
  • Complaint under the Act on the Status and Rights of Social Welfare Clients  
  • ”Request help for a family with children” form 
  • Social services complaint