On Thursday, February 18, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Welfare signed an agreement on the implementation of the project “Support for the Implementation of Barnahus in Latvia”. The aim of the project is to introduce a unified one-stop support institution in Latvia for children affected by violence.
The child's home, barnahus (the Icelandic home for children), is an internationally recognised, interdisciplinary and inter-institutional model of cooperation for children suffering from or witnessing violence. The aim of the child's home is to guarantee the coordinated and effective support of institutions for every child and to prevent a child from repeated emotional trauma while information relating to the acts of violence and legal proceedings is being clarified. One of the roles of the child's home is to create valid evidence for the litigation process by divulging out the child's disclosures in a way that the child doesn't have to face trial. Medics, police and other law enforcement bodies, social workers and psychologists work together to ensure the best interests of the child.
In the first phase of the project, a special adaptation of the premises to the needs of Barnahus will be carried out and the necessary changes in regulatory enactments will be made. It is also planned to improve the qualification of employees and exchange experience with colleagues abroad. The Barnahus premises will be located on the territory of the Children's Clinical University Hospital. Professional and safe assistance will be provided to child victims of violence as soon as all preparations have been made.
The project partners are the Child Protection Agency of the Government of Iceland, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the State Ltd. “Children's Clinical University Hospital” and the State Inspectorate for the Protection of the Rights of the Child.
Support for the implementation of the project has been received from the European Economic Area grant program for the period 2014-2021 “International Police Cooperation and Fight against Crime” (EEA Program). Within the EEA program, the Ministry of the Interior acts as the program manager, while the Ministry of Welfare is the project implementer. The project must be implemented by April 2024. Its total funding under the EEA Program is just over € 2 million, of which the EEA funding is € 1.7 million.
The information was prepared by:
Egils Zariņš, Public Relations Specialist, Communication Division, Ministry of Welfare, 64331829, egils.zarins@lm.gov.lv