[Introduction] The renewal of the family services and the developing of new kinds of functional structures are seen as a challenge for social policy in Finland. In the past few years there has been an increase in projects and new services with different working methods for supporting families with children. Many projects still concentrate on corrective work although preventive services should be emphasized more. It has been argued that the existing structure of services does not entirely correspond with the service needs of families with children. The reform of the municipal and service structure has made the development of the preventive services and different projects an even more topical issue. This in turn has underlined the importance of studying these kinds of project-based services. Family work is one of the models that support families with children. [Continues, please see the article]