The prosecutor's offices of the Vitebsk region continuously carry out supervisory work on the enforcement of legislation on the prevention of family distress

The prosecutor's offices of the Vitebsk region continuously carry out supervisory work on the enforcement of legislation on the prevention of family distress.

As a result of this work, over the twelve years of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of 24.11.2006 No. 18 "On Additional Measures for State Protection of Children in Distressed Families," the region has seen a steady downward trend in the number of orphans and children left without parental care. Since 2007, their number has decreased by 33%.

The timely elimination of the causes and conditions of family distress contributes to the decriminalization of the adolescent environment. During the period of Decree No. 18, the juvenile crime rate decreased by 75.5% (from 815 in 2007 to 200 crimes in 2017). For 9 months of 2018, 122 adolescent crimes were registered, which is almost 20% less than in the same period last year (more than 210 thousand children live in the region in total).

In accordance with the instructions of the Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office, city and district prosecutors analyzed the effectiveness of interaction between prevention entities in protecting the rights of children in socially dangerous situations requiring state protection in September 2018.

At the same time, local prosecutors and the regional prosecutor's office conducted inspections of the living conditions of children in distressed families, which revealed poor performance of educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and socio-pedagogical centers in several regions.

In the city of Vitebsk and Vitebsk district, families were identified where, at the time of visits, there was a real threat to the life and health of children due to obvious unsanitary conditions and parental alcoholism. By prosecutor's orders, children were removed from negligent parents.

In several regions, only after the intervention of prosecutors were children recognized as being in a socially dangerous situation, and relevant work with families began (Vitebsk city, Orsha city, Lepel, Dubrovno districts).

Conversely, by prosecutor's orders, children were removed from the register as being in a socially dangerous situation,

since their parents had financial problems not due to idleness (Vitebsk and other districts).

In the Ushachi district, efforts to help several families out of a socially dangerous situation were mistakenly directed at grandparents who, on the contrary, provided for the upbringing and maintenance of the children, while the parents had failed to fulfill their duties for a long time and were abroad. The district prosecutor has filed lawsuits with the court to deprive the negligent parents of their parental rights.

Facts have been revealed where the work was carried out formally, without actually visiting the families (Vitebsk city, Rossonsky district).

In addition, on the initiative of the regional prosecutor's office, in October 2018, the results of this inspection will be considered at an extraordinary meeting of the Vitebsk Regional Coordination Council for the Implementation of Decree No. 18.

Senior Assistant Regional Prosecutor Anton Volkov.