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

2. 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).

3. LATVIA

4. LATVIA
Territory:
64 589 km2
Inhabitants:
~ 2 160 000
ALBANIA
Territory:
28 748 km2
Inhabitants:
~ 3 000 000

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

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

7. Number of convicted minors
2010 – 2014 (trend)

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. Building a Support System to Prevent Juvenile
Delinquency III

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

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

14. 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 their
parents/relatives.
 Risks and needs assessment of children and
families.
 Catalogue of Activities.

15. 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;

16. 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.

17. 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;

18. 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.

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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.

22. 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 primary
school class is involved, including both the children and
their parent.

23. 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).

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!
Any questions?

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