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Norway contributes more than €20 million to the reform of the penal enforcement system in Lithuania

The penal system in Lithuania is being reorganized along the Norwegian model, with major changes in staff training, education, competence development practices and the resocialization of convicts. The reorganization aims to to create a system of staff competency development that will ensure the successful integration of convicts into society both during and after their sentences. 
 
The project aimed to improve quality of the Lithuanian penal enforcement system is implemented by the Prison Department under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania. It is joint project with Norwegian partners, which runs from August 2020 to April 2024 and has been allocated more than EUR 20.5 million from the Justice and Home Affairs Programme of the European Economic Area and Norway Grants 2014-2021. The project is supervised by the Central Project Management Agency (CPMA). 
 
According to Česlovas Jocius, Adviser to the Department of Prisons, the project will not only reorganize the personnel development system of the Lithuanian penal enforcement system, improve cooperation between institutions, but also create employment centers for vocational training, education and competence development of convicts, and develop electronic monitoring of convicts. These changes will significantly contribute to qualitative development in the country's penitentiary system.
 
"A testing tool to assess the psychological knowledge, teamwork skills, stress tolerance and communication skills of correctional officers is being developed. Based on test results individual qualification and training plans will be developed. Update of training programmess, focusing on the topic of dynamic security training for officers is also part of the project," says Mr. Jocius. 
 
“Proper staff qualification, competence and motivation is the key factor in focusing on more effective resocialization of convicted prisoners, increasing the job satisfaction of officers and staff and the prestige of the profession itself, and creating a cohesive and sustainable environment throughout the penal system” – says Česlovas Jocius.
 
Employees of the Lithuanian penal enforcement system learn to create cohesive environment from their Norwegian counterparts by participating in their training courses and internships in Norway. University College of Norwegian Correctional Service, Inlandet and Bredveit prisons, Oslo Halfway House and Oslo Probation Service specialists share their know-how with the project partners from Lithuania - Training Centre of the Prison Department, Vilnius Correction House, Pravieniškės Correction House, the Marijampolė Correction House, the Alytus Correction House, Kaunas Remand Prison, and the Lithuanian Probation Service.
 
The project has a special focus on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and their support for people serving sentences. With an aim to foster closer cooperation between the penitentiary, the halfway house, the probation service and the NGOs, a model of cooperation will be developed to ensure that the inmate receives the services he or she needs for a successful integration into society at each link. 
 
The NGOs will help inmates serving a sentence in a correctional institution or a halfway house to adapt to the social environment, to obtain the necessary information and access to the social support system, to reestablish and strengthen links with relatives and friends, to develop inmates' capacity to deal with social and other problems, to acquire skills needed for integration into the labour market, i.e. to facilitate their social integration. 
 
In the near future, the Prison Department under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania is preparing to launch a call for proposals for projects by non-governmental organisations for convicts resocialisation.  
 
About the Justice and Home Affairs programme: 
The Justice and Home Affairs programme is strengthening the rule of law in Lithuania. Various measures of the programme increase the efficiency of the Lithuanian judiciary and prosecution service, improve the penal enforcement system, strengthen the competences of the judiciary and law enforcement authorities and inter-institutional cooperation in the field of domestic and gender-based violence, and improve the capacity of the police in fighting crime. In total, more than €40 million has been allocated to the programme for the period 2014-2021. The programme is operated by the CPVA and implemented in partnership with partners. 
 
 
 
 
 

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