The government is moving forward with another bill to give social services more tools to deal with children and young people who are at risk of offending.
This is an intervention that may only be used if less invasive measures have been exhausted, says Minister of Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M).
The government estimates that between 50 and 100 children could be monitored electronically.
According to the Minister of Social Services, monitoring should not use ankle monitors, but instead a wristwatch or another device that is less stigmatizing than ankle monitors.
Sis will supervise
The purpose is to ensure that the child or young person is at home at the times that social services have decided, and the measure should be used when there are "clear reasons" to believe that this would otherwise not be the case.
Supervision should also be necessary to prevent the child or young person from engaging in crime.
The social welfare committee will apply for electronic monitoring and the administrative court will make the decision. The State Institutions Board (Sis) will then be the authority that will control the monitoring, which is proposed to be valid for six months.
If a child goes missing, it is the police's job to respond and find them.
According to the government, the proposal is not about using electronic monitoring as a punishment, but about being able to prevent later, more intrusive measures such as LVU.
The proposal for electronic monitoring has previously received harsh criticism from several consultation bodies, which, among other things, believe that it is an overly intrusive measure for young people who are not suspected or convicted of a crime.
Don't want to be near
But the Minister of Social Services believes it is justified to "protect" children from gangs.
"It's something convicted children have told me: when they have a GPS transmitter on them, criminal networks don't want to be near them," she says.
Martin Melin, legal policy spokesperson for the Liberals, emphasizes that he also meets many parents who call for tougher measures.
There are parents who say, "Help me, I can't protect my child." But those parents don't get a say when it comes to referral bodies, unfortunately.
The proposal is now being sent to the Legislative Council. There is no date for when it can come into effect as Sis is still in the process of procuring the technology.
