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Early Prevention of Youth Crime in Latvia: Multi-Disciplinary Cooperation and Social Inclusion Sanita Sle | Policy Analyst May 6-7, 2015 Tirana

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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).

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LATVIA

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Territory: 64 589 km 2 Inhabitants: 2 160 000 ALBANIA Territory: 28 748 km 2 Inhabitants: 3 000 000

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Legal framework Protection of the Rights of the Child Law Latvian Administrative Violations Code Criminal Law Law on Compulsory Measures of Correctional Nature

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Number of convicted minors 2010 - 2014 Statistics: Judicial Information System

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Number of convicted minors 2010 2014 (trend)

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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

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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.

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Building a Support System to Prevent Juvenile Delinquency II 240 children were involved in activities that took place in three pilot places Madona, Csis and Saldus municipalities.

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Building a Support System to Prevent Juvenile Delinquency III

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Building a Support System to Prevent Juvenile Delinquency IV http://providus.lv/article/child-friendly-justice-in-latvia- focusing-on-crime-prevention

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Keeping Youth Away from Crime: Searching for Best European Practices I Duration: 07.01.2013.-06.01.2015.

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Keeping Youth Away from Crime: Searching for Best European Practices II Cooperation on Inter-Institutional level InterInstitutional Cooperation Groups are established by a decision of City Council. Activities for both children and their parents/relatives. Risks and needs assessment of children and families. Catalogue of Activities.

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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;

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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 childs age; Learning difficulties; Addictive substance abuse; Participation in gangs/groupings or wrong friends.

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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;

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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.

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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

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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

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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 childrens antisocial behavior; Failure prevention tool for improving the quality of work; Monitoring report.

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Reducing youth at risk numbers: modeling early childhood intervention approaches II Activities are implemented in three pilot places: Saldus, Kuldga and Csis. In each pilot place, one pre-school group and one primary school class is involved, including both the children and their parent.

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Reducing youth at risk numbers: modeling early childhood intervention approaches III Main differences from other initiatives: Early early intervention: the age of children involved in the project (preschool and primary school educational institutions); Activities are implemented by teachers at preschools and primary schools they are the ones noticing the first signs of anti-social behavior and should know the best ways how to react/help. Cooperation on all levels around a child (within family, within the school/pre-school, within municipal institutions).

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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.

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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.

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! Any questions?

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Sanita Sle Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS www.providus.lv sanita.sile@providus.lv