This guide is informational. Always verify how the rules apply to your specific case.
Short answer: Compulsory care under Section 4 of the LVM shall be decided if three parts are fulfilled: (1) ongoing abuse of alcohol, drugs, or volatile solvents with a need for care to break the addiction, (2) the need for care cannot be met under the Social Services Act or in any other way, and (3) the person, as a result of the abuse, exposes their health to serious danger, is at obvious risk of ruining their life, or is feared to seriously harm themselves or someone close. In urgent cases, the social welfare board can decide on immediate custody under Section 13.
| Requirements in Section 4 | What must be demonstrated |
|---|---|
| Ongoing abuse | Alcohol, drugs, or volatile solvents – not a single relapse. |
| Need for care | Care is needed to break the addiction. |
| Not in any other way | Voluntary SoL care, outpatient care, or short-term LPT is not sufficient as a whole. |
| Danger | Serious health danger, obvious risk of ruining life, or feared serious harm to oneself or close ones. |
LVM criteria in practice
All three main points must be fulfilled. Point 3 has three alternative dangers – it is enough if one of them is fulfilled, but it must be connected to the abuse. General concern, debts, or exhausted relatives are not separate legal grounds.
Short-term LPT does not prevent LVM. The laws can be followed simultaneously, but they have different decision-makers: psychiatry versus the social welfare board and administrative court. See LPT if it is instead psychiatric compulsion.
Urgent LVM – immediate custody
According to Section 13, the social welfare board may decide that an addict should be immediately taken into custody if it is likely that the person can be provided care under the LVM, and the court's care decision cannot be awaited because the health condition is likely to seriously deteriorate without immediate care. The decision must be submitted to the administrative court without delay, no later than the following day.
The urgent decision is not the same as the final care judgment. Request the decision, the basis, and the case number on the same day. A public representative is normally appointed.
LVM home is not the point of the search
Many search for individual SiS homes. For you as a reported person or relative, rights issues are more important than the home name: why voluntary care has not been fully tested, how long the care may last, contact, and how the care should motivate continued voluntary treatment. Care under the LVM may continue as long as needed, up to six months, with the possibility of extension in certain cases.
How to respond to an LVM investigation
- Which substance and which dates demonstrate “ongoing” abuse?
- What voluntary intervention has actually been offered and declined – in your words, not just the journal's?
- Which of the three dangers in Section 4, paragraph 3 is invoked, and with what basis?
- Are there children in the household? Then a parallel child protection track is running. See child concern report.
Continue in LVM report step by step and concern report adult.
Frequently asked questions about LVM criteria
What are the LVM criteria?
Ongoing substance abuse with a need for care, where care cannot be provided under the Social Services Act or otherwise, and serious health danger, obvious risk of ruining life, or feared serious harm to oneself or relatives.
What is emergency LVM?
Immediate custody under Section 13 when a court decision on care cannot be awaited due to serious deterioration of health. The decision must be submitted to the administrative court no later than the following day.
How long does LVM last?
As long as care is needed, up to a maximum of six months, with the possibility of extension according to the law. Care should cease when the conditions no longer exist.
Sources
Last fact-checked: August 17, 2026.
