The 5th of October, 2015 has marked a new stage in the project – education activities for the first group of staff are initiated activities within the new department – „Re-socialization Centre for addicts”.
Based on all the applications of suitable candidates, newly established recruitment commission chose 29 candidates in the first round, 15 of them have a professional work experience in detention centres, while 14 candidates are beginners in the field of detention. In addition, by the order of the Head of the Prison Administration, two experienced specialists were appointed as the Head of the centre and the Deputy Head of the centre – Ilze Ušacka and Sanita Švesa. Educational events in Training Centre will last for six months under the guidance of experts and guest lecturers until April 2016. Activities will be organized based on a framework developed by the working group, which includes the Prison Administration and cooperation partners – the specialists of the Norwegian Academy of correction.
The centre’s staff will learn both prison studies and knowledge how to work with addicts in insulation conditions.
Foreign approbated methodologies for learning like “Pathfinder” and “Atlantis” can particularly be pointed out. These are adopted re-socialization methodologies of dependent convicts, that are created by the Prison Administration’s working group in cooperation with project partners from prison of Oslo in Norway and the central prison administration of Poland. After the end of the trainings for the first group, the second group will be recruited; the recruitment campaign will be launched in January 2016.
In addition to these methodologies, the social skills program “School of Life 3” is improved, as well as in-depth risk and needs assessment tools for addicted convicts have been developed. The development of the procedures, necessary for the operations of the centre, is in process. Meanwhile, the working group will complete the draft of regulations about internal rules in the centre and submit it to the Cabinet of Ministers.
Great attention in the project is paid to the prison staff preparation in the matters related to the choice of sending convicts to the centre. 303 officials and employees of the Prison Administration, as well as the State Probation Service’s experts were familiarized with the planned Centre’s operation activities during 11 seminars. 7 seminars were organized for 104 officers and employees of the Prison Administration to get familiar with the principles of selection and sending convicts to the centre. An individual seminar was organized for the heads of the prisons.
On 26th of August, 2015 the project interim results were presented at a conference with foreign partner organizations and a wide range of national institutional representatives. The most important event of the conference was the solemn ceremony of a time capsule loading in foundation of the centre.
In parallel, the re-socialization centre’s construction in Olaine’s prison is ongoing within the activity number 2. On May 20, 2015 the permit for construction of the “zero cycle” was authorised, while the complete technical design of the building authority was agreed on 13th of July, 2015. The works are expected to finish by March 2016, together with the end of the process of education of the first group of the centre’s staff.
As project continues, along with the construction works and preparation of the staff, the involvement of direct benefit recipients will start by organizing the selection of centre’s clients in imprisonment places.
According to the current draft version of the project, the deadline is April 30, 2016. However, in the interest of successful achievement of project’s performance, project’s amendments, that anticipate the extension of project’s deadline until 31st of December, 2016, are prepared and handled in for revision.
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