Although the Ministry of Justice, together with the Prison Administration and the State Probation Service, is constantly working on the introduction of new tools that will ensure an improvement in the efficiency of the re-socialisation system and will have a direct impact on the integration of people in difficulty into society and the labour market, the correction services still lack employees to contribute to this goal. In order to promote public awareness of the objectives of the activities of the institutions, day-to-day work and its specificity, as well as the benefits, the Ministry of Justice organizes the campaigns “To make mistakes and help each other is human.” The opening of the campaign will take place on 15 November 10:00 on the Ministry of Justice Facebook page.
In recent years, significant changes have taken place in the resocialization system of Latvia, which have brought positive results not only in the daily life of the employees of the Prisons Administration and the State Probation Service, but also in the improvement of the entire system. These changes are implemented thanks to the support of the European Social Fund, within the framework of which the project "Increasing the efficiency of the resocialization system" is being implemented, which is aimed at increasing the professional capacity of prison and probation officers and improving the training system. The project "Increasing the integration of ex-prisoners in society and the labor market" is still being implemented, which promotes the integration of prisoners and ex-prisoners into society and their involvement in the labor market, as well as supporting the implementation of measures for the families of ex-prisoners. The implementation of projects means a modern, European standards-compliant approach both in solving the problems of the resocialization system and in the professional development of employees.
The 2018 "Public Opinion Survey on Good Practice Promotion Measures to Change Stereotypes About Ex-Prisoners" indicates that the public supports the need to provide support to prisoners so that they can integrate into society and reduce the likelihood of re-offence. The study also proves that previous experience in dealing with prisoners is the basis for a more positive attitude towards them, and a lack of experience - a more negative one, so the statement that a person who has committed a crime once can be completely reformed is more likely to be agreed by 72.7% who have had experience with prisoners and 64.6% who have not had such an experience.
On the other hand, the State Probation Service annually works with more than 16,000 people who have been sentenced to a sentence to be served in society or have become probation clients in the areas of settlement and evaluation report preparation. The State Probation Service implements and uses work methods that are scientifically based and meet the needs of modern public safety, taking into account the interests of victims, which promote the social inclusion of probation clients and refrain from committing offenses. When working with probation clients, probation professionals are working towards their own safety and the safety of our entire society today and in the future.
"It is inherent in each of us to make mistakes. Some mistakes are ones that can never be fixed. The consequences of crime, especially serious violent crime, can be irreversible. Undeniably, in such cases, the perpetrator must answer for the wrongdoing, but more importantly - take responsibility for what has been done and for not repeating such a mistake. However, there are also mistakes that can be corrected, which is often impossible without the participation of other people - fellow human beings and specialists. Each of us are responsible for the environment around us. We create a better society with our own participation, but with ignorance we do the opposite. Therefore, with this campaign, I invite everyone to evaluate their opportunities and readiness to actively engage and participate in the creation of a safer society and come to work in the Prisons Administration and the State Probation Service," says State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice Mihails Papsujevičs.
The event will be attended by State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice Mihails Papsujevičs, Head of the Prison Administration Dmitrijs Kalins, Head of the State Probation Service Imants Jurevičius, Leading Probation Specialist - Head of the 1st Department of Jelgava Ivars Ozoliņš, Board Member of the Latvian Psychiatrists' Association, Member of the LĀB Certification Commission in the specialty of Psychiatrist Nikita Bezborodovs, Kristīne Ozoliņa, a representative of the career and jobseeker support department of the Labor Market Department of the State Employment Agency, and Iveta Ādamsone, a senior specialist of the State Probation Service and a volunteer, while the event will be hosted by Kristīne Garklāva, the host of the TV morning news program, journalist and ambassador of the "World Nature Fund".
We invite all those interested to participate in the event on the Ministry of Justice Facebook page: https://fb.me/e/2kW7k9tZg
In order to receive answers to your questions during the live broadcast, please send them in advance to e-mail: kristina.ilatovska@olsen.lv or ask them during the broadcast in the comments section of the Facebook live broadcast.
About the campaign:
Ministry of Justice campaigns “To make mistakes and help each other is human.” the aim is to attract new employees to work in the Prison Administration and the State Probation Service, as well as to increase the awareness of the public and those employed in the institutions about the goals of the institutions, their daily work and its specifics and benefits.
The campaign is implemented under the European Social Fund project no. 10.1.2.0/18/TP/003 "Technical assistance to the Ministry of Justice as the responsible institution in the implementation of information and publicity measures (2019-2022)".
