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Colours Of Life

We all are responsible for welfare of young people, especially whose, who have connections with children every day. The complexity of the problems of children and youth addictions and the need of purposeful activity raise requirements to look for new methods and forms of activity. The officers of Prevention Department prepare projects and work with children from risk group for ten years. Analysing our experience we have understood that the effectiveness of our projects depends on the proper measures of preventative impact. We developed our knowledge and understanding from our practice and experience of Western countries.

The decision of foundation of the NGO has been made by those officers, who are working on voluntary bases until now. They spare their time, knowledge and experience working in the organization and do not get any payment. That is the new initiative and we seek to encourage development of voluntary activity. Sharing our experience, we are looking for opportunities to expand our activity and involve youth organizations into it.

This activity is connected with active voluntary work, solving the problems of children’s and youths’ occupation. Voluntary work is very good possibility for everyone to use one’s knowledge and experience, meet one’s need, involve oneself into social life. Preventative activity obtains original and interesting forms. The participants can also suggest activities, which are interesting for them.

The quantitative results of the project:

  1. The constant occupation in the Police centre (4-5 times per week).
  2. 24 members of the main group (in total 38 members) didn’t make any offences.
  3. 18 volunteers, acting according the principle “Peers for Peers”, took part in the measures of the project.
  4. 49 youths, whose behaviour was positive, were involved into the preventative activities.
  5. Various services were provided: 123 social services, 145 services of information and consulting, and 142 services of nutrition.
  6. Legal education (129 visits to schools; 89 lectures for children; 74 participations in parents’ meetings; 29 meetings with pedagogues; 87 consultations of law).
  7. All families were visited 2-3 times.
  8. Actions, presentation of the preventative bus, sport events for an abstract audience.
  9. Two suggestions were provided for the representatives of municipality.

The qualitative results of the project:

  1. The interview of the participants of the project.
  2. The interview of main executives and partners of the project (the activities, their implementation, and results were discussed).
  3. The changes, which appeared after the implementation of the activities (in the main group), were compared with the changes of other people, having addictions.
  4. Our work was coordinated and well planned because of good sharing of responsibility between the main executives and partners.
  5. The activities of the project improved the relations between the children from risk group and their peers.
  6. State institutions and NGO will be involved into the process of this problem solution.
  7. There are still possibilities of continuity of the project.

The prevention of crimes, which is implemented in our department include the measures, which are intended to decrease delinquency of children and youth, help victims of crimes and prevent the reasons and conditions of delinquency. All state-members of the EU face the problems of children and youths delinquency. The tendencies of youth delinquency show resemblance: spread of violence between youths, crimes in virtual environment, dependency on drugs and so on. And the solution of those problems requires similar measures of work. Preventative work is based on the search of innovations. The Resolution of the European Parliament (21-06-2007) because delinquency of juveniles has accentuated the principle that the state members should use the progressive experience, based on cooperation of police institutions with other state institutions and NGOs.

It is easier to work with delinquent children using traditional methods, considering the idea that it is impossible to protect all children from mistakes. Nevertheless we have chosen the way of new ideas and changes. The officers of Prevention Department prepare projects and work with risk group children for ten years. We have implemented various preventative projects, and we haven’t always achieved significant results. Analysing our practice we have realised that the effectiveness of the projects depends on the proper measures of preventative effect. The knowledge we gathered analysing our practice and experience of other state-members of the European Union.

We are happy that we can organize positive leisure activities for children and youth. The children form the target group take part in our activity actively. Our activity as snowball becomes wider. That is an example of good practice, which has been positively evaluated in Lithuania and we expect that we can share our ides, activities with the foreign organizations.

 

Contact:
Danutė Mykolaitienė
danute.mykolaitiene@policija.lt

 

The project started in 2008 and is now finished
Last review: January 2020.

 

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