The project ’’Developing a Drug Prevention Support Network for Parents and Professionals in Georgia’’ implemented by the Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe continues to support state institutions for strengthening their capacity building to prevent prevalence of drugs and psychoactive substances.
To assess needs and the existing situation, the Pompidou Group expert Corina Giacomello visited Juvenile Referral Centre and National Agency for Crime Prevention, Execution of Non-Custodial Sentences and Probation. One of the key activities of the Pompidou Group Project is to support psychologists and social workers of the Juvenile Referral Centre through assistance with international expertise for improving their performance. This includes organizing thematic meetings and focus groups between expert and the specialists.
During a three-day mission, the expert met psychologists, social workers and their supervisors at the Juvenile Referral Centre and Probation Agency. The specialists of the Referral Centre work with two main groups with different needs and challenges: children age of 7-14 who are under criminal liability age using different psychoactive substances and having mental health related issues, and adolescents of 10-18 age who have different risk-factors related behaviors being in a challenging environment. Juvenile Referral Centre was created by the Government of Georgia in 2020. The objective of the Referral Centre is rehabilitation, resocialization, socialization and crime prevention coordination of juveniles under the criminal liability age, having different risk-factors related behaviors and living in a challenging environment.
As a result of the expert visit, a roadmap for the specialists will be created, the screening instrument and standard operational procedures will be improved, so the performance and work of the specialists of the Referral Centre becomes more effective and communication of the specialists with adolescents and their parents will be further improved. In addition, the expert will assist the above-mentioned state institutions to improve multi-agency cooperation and refine the case management system.
