Sweden – Health and social work services – Arbetskooperativ

The Swedish Prison and Probation Service (Kriminalvården) is procuring framework agreements with several suppliers for the placement of clients in work cooperatives. These clients have been sentenced to protective custody with a special treatment plan (contract care) and are detained but reside outside the institution on leave of absence according to Chapter 11, Section 1 of the Penal Code (FäL). According to the Swedish Prison and Probation Service's definition, a work cooperative is an activity that, under milieutherapeutic conditions, focuses on work and work training combined with social training and drug-free accommodation. The client lives and undertakes work training in the activity or works on assignments outside the facility together with the work cooperative's staff. Through meaningful work, support in the form of conversations and group cohesion, a more stable everyday life is enabled that prevents misuse. Clear rules, responsibility, and long-term goals such as self-sufficiency help the clients to regain control over their lives. When the Swedish Prison and Probation Service's and social services' payment responsibility ceases, the placed individual should be able to continue living and working in the cooperative.