Prezentācija EEZ grantu programmas "Children and Youth at Risk" kontaktseminārā, kas notika 2014.gada 14.janvārī Tallinā, Igaunijā. Plašāka informācija par pasākumu: http://www.entk.ee/riskilapsedjanoored/en/invitation-to-a-contact-seminar-of-the-eea-grants-programme-children-and-youth-at-risk/ Presentation in Contact seminar of the EEA Grants programme “Children and Youth at Risk”, which was held on January 14, 2014 in Tallinn, Estonia. Further information: http://www.entk.ee/riskilapsedjanoored/en/invitation-to-a-contact-seminar-of-the-eea-grants-programme-children-and-youth-at-risk/

1. 5
Social Inclusion, Early
Intervention, Prevention what works and why?
Sanita Sīle,
Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS

2. Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS
THINK TANK:
mission is to facilitate comprehensive policy change in areas
important for Latvia’s development.

3. Early prevention?
“Early prevention” refers to a series of actions which aim at
creating an environment that deters children from persistent
disruptive behaviour 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

4. Building a Support System to Prevent
Juvenile Delinquency
Duration: 01.01.2011.-30.06.2012.
• 240 children were involved in activities that took place in three
pilot places – Madona, Cēsis and Saldus municipalities.
• The main achievements:
– Development of Inter-Institutional Cooperation Model;
– Establishment of Regional Work Groups;
– Catalogue of Activities for each municipality.
• The main conclusions:
– Lack of parental involvement impose serious difficulties in creation of safe
and supportive environment for children’s development while also
reducing the risks of social exclusion.
– Early intervention should be really early – the first signs of anti-social
behavior are shown at very early age – they just must be recognized in an
appropriate way.
http://www.providus.lv/public/27598.html

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

6. Keeping Youth Away from Crime:
Searching for Best European Practices
• National level – pilot projects and monitoring
• Baltic States’ level – research, trainings and workshops
• “Old European” countries’ level – research and workshops

7. Keeping Youth Away from Crime.
What happens in pilot places?
• Cooperation on Inter-Institutional level
– Inter –Institutional Cooperation Groups are established by a decision of City
Council.
– Specialists : social service worker, psychologist, social pedagogue, representative
from Department of Education, representatives from State Police, Municipal
Police, State Probation Service of Latvia and the Orphans’ Court. If necessary,
teachers, narcologists , family doctor etc. are invited to meetings.
• Activities for both children and their parents/relatives.
• Risks and needs assessment of children and families.
• Catalogue of Activities.
Low income
families
History of
offending
http://www.providus.lv/public/27804.html
Children have
problems at
school
Single parent
families

8. Reducing youth at risk numbers:
modeling early childhood intervention
approaches
Duration: 01.11.2013.-31.10.2015.
Our to-do list:
• 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.

9. Reducing youth at risk numbers:
modeling early childhood intervention
approaches
Main differences from other initiatives:
• Early “early intervention”: the age of children involved in the
project (preschool and primary school educational institutions);
• Activities will be 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.
Parents
• Cooperation on all levels around a child:
http://www.providus.lv/public/27876.html
Child
Officials, NGOs
Teachers

10. Conclusions – what are our lessons
learned?
• Inter-Institutional Cooperation works – bringing specialists
together, making coordinated and discussion-based decisions
contributes to overall understanding of prevention instead of just
applying formally punitive measures.
• Social inclusion of children is impossible without social inclusion
of their parents.
• We cannot rely only on projects to improve the situation in
specific field – officials have to recognize the importance of these
issues.
– Recognitions of Inter-Institutional Cooperation Groups – decision of City
Council;
– Budget – several activities are now financed by municipality (project ensured
the “evidence based” aspect)

11. Conclusions – what are our lessons
learned?
• Can there be early prevention/early social inclusion that is too
early? The need for help can be noticed at very young age and it
cannot be ignored – the right measures and tools should be used.
• Specialists should not be left alone with their difficulties and
questions – colleague consultations, tools for prevention of
failures, monitoring are methods that were evaluated very highly
by all our partners.
• Finding the right people to work with is crucial (even though it is
easer said than done)!

12. Thank you!
Sanita Sīle
Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS
E-mail: sanita.sile@providus.lv
www.providus.lv