Social services
The wellbeing services county of Southwest Finland will organise social and health services as of 1 January 2023. The services and receptions offered to the residents of Salo will remain unchanged, but the content of these pages will no longer be updated. The most recent information can be found at varha.fi/en.
Social services include service coordination and service needs assessment, social services for adults and families, child guidance and family counselling, child welfare supervision and child protection services, and services for the disabled. Early family work and home services for families with children are provided in cooperation with the city health services.
Contacting social services for a service needs assessment
If a person is in obvious need of social welfare services, they must be referred to the appropriate services, or a notification must be submitted to the municipal social services.
The obligation to provide guidance and to contact the necessary authorities falls on all health care professionals and social workers, all employees of the social welfare, educational, sports, day-care, and rescue services, and anyone working for the Finnish Emergency Services, the police, Kela, the employment and economic development authority, Finnish Customs, enforcement authorities, or the Criminal Sanctions Agency. Other parties may also contact the social welfare services in the above-mentioned matters. However, the person in question must give their consent for contacting the social services.
If a consent is not obtained, the social welfare services must still be contacted without delay if
- the person is unable to take responsibility of their own health and safety; or
- a child’s best interests are at stake.
Service coordination and service needs assessment – Sointu
A child welfare notification must be submitted without delay, if the parties concerned do not give their consent for contacting the social welfare services, and if the criteria for making a child welfare notification are met.
The Sointu team consists of 13 social work professionals, who are responsible for organising service coordination and on-call services during office hours for the social services, receiving contacts and child welfare notifications in accordance with the Social Welfare Act, and preparing service needs assessments in cooperation with the clients, their family members, and other relevant professionals. The core task of the Sointu team is to find the right services for persons in need of support in a timely manner. If a customer relationship already exists in some service area or the need for a specific service is evident, the service in question, such as older people services, Kela’s social assistance, or disability services, will be contacted directly.
Service coordination is available on Monday–Friday 8:30–11:30, tel. +358 44 778 3121.
The social counsellor of the Sointu team can be reached in the mornings at the Salo City Hall and also by telephone. The social counsellor provides the locals with advice and guidance in social welfare matters.
Visiting address: Ylhäistentie 2, 24130 Salo
Postal address: PO Box 80, 24101 Salo
Social emergency services in Salo during office hours
In situations requiring urgent and necessary measures, the social emergency services can be reached through the Emergency Response Centre (112) 24/7 all year round, or by calling +358 44 778 3121 on Mon–Thu at 8:00–15:30 and on Fridays and days preceding the eve of a national holiday at 8:00–15:00.
As a rule, matters related to the custody or maintenance of a child or a parent’s visitation rights are not handled by the social emergency services. Instead, such matters should be sorted out with child supervisors during office hours.
Social emergency services outside office hours
Social emergency services are also organised outside office hours to ensure the availability of urgent and necessary assistance. In Salo, emergency services outside office hours are organised by the social emergency services of the City of Turku, tel. +358 2 2626 003. You can also contact the social emergency services via the Emergency Response Centre (112).
Social services for adults
The adult services team serves clients with no underage children in the family.
Guidance and advice on social assistance is available on Mon–Fri 9:00–12:00, tel. +358 2 778 3092. The helpline provides instructions and information on how to fill out and submit an application.
Visiting address: Tehdaskatu 2, 24100 Salo
Postal address: PO Box 80, 24101 Salo
If you have a personal social worker, you can contact them directly by telephone.
The family team is responsible for organising social services for families with children.
You can apply for supplementary and preventive social assistance from the municipality.
However, Kela still oversees the basic social assistance, which must be applied for before submitting an application for supplementary or preventive social assistance to the municipality. Kela may also grant you social assistance if the payment of your primary benefit, such as unemployment benefit or sickness allowance, is delayed.
Adult services offer help and support when you are in need of the following:
- assistance of a social welfare professional to prevent or solve problems
- guidance and advice on social security benefits and social services
- support for managing your economy and everyday life
- guidance in applying for an apartment or securing an apartment
- supplementary or preventive social assistance
- guidance in finding a suitable job or rehabilitation service.
The services of social workers and social counsellors are only available by appointment.
Immigrant services
The immigrant services provide information and advice on issues related to immigration, integration services, and social assistance. The unit also provides immigrants with service coordination for taking care of everyday matters.
HelppoSalo – helpdesk for immigrants
The HelppoSalo helpdesk (Tehdaskatu 2, Salo) provides assistance with matters such as working life, housing, education, and filling out documents and forms.
The helpdesk serves customers in Finnish, Russian, and English. When necessary, the helpdesk offers services also in other languages through an interpreter.
The helpdesk is usually open as follows:
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- Tue 10:00–11:30, 12:30–15:00
- Wed 12:00–15:00 (by appointment only)
- Thu 10:00–11:30, 12:30–15:00
Check the updated opening hours Helpdesk Advisor Sofia Martyugova, +358 50 473 4746, helpposalo@salo.fi
