early prevention of youth crime in latvia: multi-disciplinary cooperation and social inclusion

Early Prevention of Youth Crime in

Latvia: Multi-Disciplinary

Cooperation and Social Inclusion

Sanita Sīle | Policy Analyst

May 6-7, 2015

Tirana

Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS

PROVIDUS provides independent expertise in the following areas:

• good governance (including public integrity and prevention of corruption, openness of information, responsibility of courts, social entrepreneurship, civic participation, energy policy);

• inclusive political process (including integration policies and diversity management);

• criminal justice (including penal policy and alternatives for pre-trial detention, juvenile justice, support for victims’ rights).

LATVIA

LATVIA

Territory: 64 589 km2

Inhabitants:~ 2 160 000

ALBANIATerritory: 28 748 km2

Inhabitants:~ 3 000 000

Legal framework

Protection of the Rights of the Child Law

Latvian Administrative Violations Code

Criminal Law

Law on Compulsory Measures of Correctional Nature

Number of convicted minors

2010 - 2014

Statistics: Judicial Information System

Number of convicted minors

2010 – 2014 (trend)

Early prevention

Early prevention refers to a series of actions which aim at creating an environment that deters children from persistent disruptive behavior and early-onset delinquency. By involving the entire

society and implementing specific actions (lawful and socially useful), we can ensure that the

personal development of children is as harmonious and as free from crime as possible.

International Juvenile Justice Observatory

Building a Support System to Prevent Juvenile

Delinquency I

Duration: 01.01.2011.-30.06.2012.

The main achievements:

Development of Inter-Institutional Cooperation Model;

Individual risks and needs assessment for children;

Establishment of Regional Work Groups;

Catalogue of Activities for each municipality.

Building a Support System to Prevent Juvenile

Delinquency II

240 children were involved in activities that took place in

three pilot places – Madona, Cēsis and Saldus

municipalities.

Building a Support System to Prevent Juvenile

Delinquency III

Building a Support System to Prevent Juvenile

Delinquency IV

http://providus.lv/article/child-friendly-justice-in-latvia-focusing-on-crime-prevention

Keeping Youth Away from Crime:

Searching for Best European Practices I

Duration: 07.01.2013.-06.01.2015.

Keeping Youth Away from Crime:

Searching for Best European Practices II

Cooperation on Inter-Institutional level Inter–Institutional Cooperation Groups are established

by a decision of City Council.

Activities for both children and theirparents/relatives.

Risks and needs assessment of children andfamilies.

Catalogue of Activities.

Keeping Youth Away from Crime:

Searching for Best European Practices III

Most common risks for children (I):

Conflicting relations both at home and in the school environment;

Various types of domestic violence;

School truancy;

Permanent under achievement;

Vagrancy, excessive leaderism;

Violence against peers or violence from peers;

Parents in the divorce process, as the result of which parents “fight with each other”, involving children;

Keeping Youth Away from Crime:

Searching for Best European Practices III

Most common risks for children (II):

Violent emotional attitude towards the child in the family;

Being disregarded;

Insufficient supervision;

Feeling of not being needed to anyone and not belonging anywhere;

Too many duties, too much responsibility for the child (from parents, teachers) unsuitable for the child’s age;

Learning difficulties;

Addictive substance abuse;

Participation in gangs/groupings or “wrong” friends.

Keeping Youth Away from Crime:

Searching for Best European Practices IV

Most common risks for parents (I):

Lack of parenting skills and knowledge;

Conflicting relations in the family;

Alcohol dependency;

Unemployment;

Mental health problems;

Poverty;

Children are raised by one of the parents or grandparents

because parents have left to work abroad;

Keeping Youth Away from Crime:

Searching for Best European Practices IV

Most common risks for parents (II):

Domestic violence;

Antisocial behaviour;

Inappropriate domicile;

“Parents do not have place in the house for the child” or the

child has no value in the family because parents are occupied

with their problems;

Excessive leaderism or immoderate, unjustified demands

against others;

Apathetic relations in the family.

Keeping Youth Away from Crime:

Searching for Best European Practices V

http://providus.lv/en/article/keeping-youth-away-from-crime-searching-for-best-

european-practices

Keeping Youth Away from Crime:

Searching for Best European Practices VI

Educational film

http://providus.lv/en/article/keeping-youth-away-from-crime-searching-for-best-

european-practices

Reducing youth at risk numbers:

modeling early childhood intervention

approaches I

Duration: 01.11.2013.-31.10.2015.

• Promotion of change in philosophy when working with children

and families;

• Formation of children friendly and inclusive society and created

multi-disciplinary cooperation model;

• Methodology for identification and prevention of early risks of

children’s antisocial behavior;

• Failure prevention tool for improving the quality of work;

• Monitoring report.

Reducing youth at risk numbers:

modeling early childhood intervention

approaches II

Activities are implemented in three pilot places: Saldus, Kuldīga and Cēsis.

In each pilot place, one pre-school group and one primaryschool class is involved, including both the children and

their parent.

Reducing youth at risk numbers:

modeling early childhood intervention

approaches III

Main differences from other initiatives:

• Early “early intervention”: the age of children involvedin the project (preschool and primary school educationalinstitutions);

• Activities are implemented by teachers at preschoolsand primary schools – they are the ones noticing the firstsigns of anti-social behavior and should know the bestways how to react/help.

• Cooperation on all levels around a child (within family,within the school/pre-school, within municipalinstitutions).

Conclusions

Inter-institutional cooperation among institutions and all

stakeholders;

Individual risks and needs assessment;

Work with children AND parents;

Earliness of intervention;

Formal recognition of the initiatives.

Conclusions

Inter-institutional cooperation among institutions and all

stakeholders;

Individual risks and needs assessment;

Work with children AND parents;

Earliness of intervention;

Formal recognition of the initiatives.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR

ATTENTION!

Any questions?

Sanita SīleCentre for Public Policy PROVIDUS

www.providus.lv

sanita.sile@providus.lv