46 npm annual report 2016 /observations and recommendations 3.7 Social welfare / Children's units Three child welfare units were visited in 2016: Pienkoti Aura (Jyväskylä), Nuorisokoti Hovila (Jyväskylä) and Veikkari special children’s home (Paimio). Visits to child welfare units are usually unannounced. As an exception, the visit to Veikkari special children’s home was pre-announced to ensure that as many of the children placed in this unit as possible would be present and could be heard. There was a special focus during the reporting year on the conditions and treatment of unaccompanied minor asylum seekers at reception centres. Visits were conducted on six different sites in total: Karhusaari group home (Helsinki Deaconess Institute), Turku Reception Centre’s group home (Finnish Red Cross), Heikkilä assisted living unit (Medivida Oy), Siuntio assisted living unit (Finnish Red Cross), Keuruu assisted living unit (Finnish Red Cross) and Säynätsalo assisted living unit (Jyväskylä region support home). The visits to reception centres were also unannounced. The purpose of the visits was to gather information on the well-being of the young people placed in these units, their living conditions and the organisation of reception services. It was also verified that every child had a guardian, that legal aid had been organised for them and that they knew how to contact their guardians and counsels. The minors in these units are not subjected to restrictive measures and, for example, their freedom of movement may not be restricted under the law. Consequently, the visits were conducted under the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s mandate rather than in the Ombudsman’s role as the NPM. Pienkoti Aura • The NPM welcomed the unit’s efforts to provide for and promote the children’s right to meet and keep in touch with their parents and other significant persons. Meetings between children and their family members were supported systematically: for example, the unit paid for the children’s and their family members’ travel costs to the meetings. Family members could also stay overnight in the visitors’ room at the unit. Additionally, the unit had a flat in the centre of Jyväskylä where children and their family members could spend weekends together.