An American homeschooling advocacy lobbied on the family’s behalf as early as 2018.
A conservative American homeschooling organisation, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), has been linked to the case of the Karf family that has been missing for two years.
A year ago, when the Karf family’s disappearance became public, an American attorney representing the HSLDA, Kevin Boden, presented himself as the family’s point of contact. In June 2025, he told commercial broadcaster MTV that the family’s eighth child had been born.
It now appears that the HSLDA has sought to promote its policy goals in Finland using the Karf family case as a vehicle. Cooperation with the family reportedly began several years before they went missing.
Experts interviewed by Yle say the organisation actively seeks out individual cases that can be used to influence education legislation in the United States and elsewhere.
“They fight every battle, no matter how trivial it might seem to an outsider. And they are fierce,” said James Dwyer, a US lawyer specialising in family law.
An earlier investigation by Yle found that the family’s disappearance followed years of escalating disputes with authorities over homeschooling arrangements.
Documents seen by Yle found that the group began advocating on behalf of the Karf family in 2018, six years before they disappeared.
At the time, HSLDA reportedly corresponded with local leaders in Pedersöre, the family’s home municipality, on the Karfs’ behalf.
HSLDA also published an article on its website alleging that Finnish authorities were harassing a family in Pedersöre. While the article does not mention the Karf family by name, its details correspond closely to their case.
“Islands of refuge”
Finland has attracted broader interest from HSLDA, which has also published coverage of the Åland Islands in its own magazine.
The article describes the Åland Islands as one of the world’s most densely concentrated homeschooling communities.
The organisation has also visited the Finnish National Agency for Education, where, according to Finnish homeschooling association chair Juhani Paavolainen, legal safeguards regarding homeschooling were discussed.
Small countries are of particular interest to the US-based organisation, says an investigative journalist from Argentina.
Diana Cariboni, a reporter, has examined the HSLDA’s growing influence in Latin America.
“The HSLDA is constantly seeking strategically suitable individual cases. It aims to take to court cases that could be used to shift local legislation in a direction more favourable to homeschooling,” Cariboni told Yle.
HSLDA helped the German Romeike family seek asylum in the United States in 2008.
For the Karfs, however, such a move would be impossible, as none of the family members holds a valid passport, according to information obtained by Yle from the National Police Board.
