State Inspectorate for the Protection of the Rights of the Child Families and parents who sent their children there have come to the attention of the VBTAI in connection with the violations of children’s rights found in August in the “Blessing Community” organized by the Catholic priest Andrejs Mediņš – the Inspectorate has At the same time, the inspection of the Delfi portal acknowledged that the Brukna community would no longer be the focus of its inspectors.
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“In essence, the children should not have been there,” Evija Rācene, director of the VBTAI Children’s Rights Protection Department, told the Delfi portal, saying that all the test case materials, the minutes of the negotiations and the inspection report alleging the irregularities were handed over to the police. Already reported that the police started two departmental examinations, one of which has completed and initiated the administrative process in relation to violence against children, but the second departmental examination is still ongoing.
One of the additional risks identified by the VBTAI during the inspection in Brukna was the fact that minors live in the community on a daily basis with adults who have previously been convicted of various crimes, as well as people with various addiction problems. Mediņš, in turn, previously told reporters that with the so-called problematic children and youth he himself is no longer working in Brukna – a special youth house is being built for it.
Rācene told the portal “Delfi” that after the first inspection, VBTAI organized an interdisciplinary meeting, bringing together the involved orphans’ courts, the State Police (VP), the State Probation Service and the ombudsman.
All involved orphans’ courts have been instructed to negotiate with the children’s parents and send the VBTAI minutes of the negotiations on how the parents justified why they took the children to Brukna. Rācene said about “how the orphan’s court responded”, noting that information had not been received from some orphans’ courts in the first week of September. In addition, the Orphans’ Court asked questions in a different way – one Orphan’s Court, which Rācene did not specify, asked the questions in general, therefore the VBTAI has not received confirmation that the parents have been informed about the involvement of Brukna and children.
Rācene explained that usually the orphan’s court informs the relevant social service and asks to take the necessary support measures if it sees any danger to a particular family and the need for help.
In the Bauska region, where Brukna’s “Mountain Blessing Community” is located, the Orphan’s Court refrained from commenting on the portal “Delfi” whether it has information about parents who sent their offspring to Brukna, as well as assess what happened, stating that all violations were found by VBTAI and the ombudsman. It is possible to find out about the social situation in Bauska region in this infographics.
Asked whether the VBTAI has initiated systematic monitoring of Brukna’s “Mountain Blessing Community”, if significant violations of children’s rights have been identified, about which the public and law enforcement officers have been informed, Rācene noted that VBTAI is not obliged to monitor the situation in the NGO. What the institution can do is follow-up if it is suspected that any of the previous recommendations have not been followed, or if it wants to be sure that the instructions given above have been followed.
“But so that it should be included in the list of planned inspections – it is not,” said Rācene, noting that VBTAI inspects state and municipal institutions, but the “Community of Mountain Blessings” is a foundation, a non-governmental organization, therefore “respectively registered them. , it must also monitor it, “Rācene summed up.
“Delphi” has already written that no Business Register, which registered the “Brukna Mountain Blessing Community”, no Ministry of Justice supervision of what is happening in Brukna is not carried out, as it is not within the competence of these authorities. The responsibility for what is happening in the association must be taken by the association itself.
It has also already been written that the head of VBTAI Jānis Ābele previously admitted to Latvijas Radio that there are problems in Latvia in accessing assistance with adolescents with behavioral disorders, because it is virtually impossible to receive such services. He also emphasized the parental responsibility for raising such children, stressing that such children could not be expected to be returned to an institution that would fully solve all problems.
Members of the Commission on Human Rights and Public Affairs and the Committee on Social Affairs and Labor also concluded on Tuesday, 8 September, after hearing the views of experts, that there is a lack of a unified systemhow to help children with addictions or behavioral problems by agreeing that by mid – December the responsible ministries will develop a concrete algorithm to remedy this situation.
The experts invited to the joint sitting of the Saeima commissions pointed out that youth addiction and behavioral disorders are a problem that requires a complex solution. However, there is currently a lack of addiction specialists and doctors in the country, and their consultations are not available to the required extent.
You can read more about the opportunities offered by the state to receive help and treatment for those in problem situations. in this article.
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