Police are recording arson, robbery and other serious offences committed by children, the House Human Rights Committee heard on Monday during a discussion on minors in state care.
A police official told the committee that a study on youth offending had been prepared. “They are recorded by police as criminal activity and not as delinquent behaviour,” the official said, because they include arson, robbery and other serious offences. The number of children running away from care facilities has fallen, the committee was told.
Committee chairman Christos Christofides said some services had again failed to answer the committee’s questions. He warned that if they came to the next session with theories, he would stop the meeting and “tell people that no work is being done”. He told those who had not answered to study the questions and said the committee would meet again before the end of the year to review progress. It will also try to meet children in state care to hear their views and experiences, he said.
The issue was first discussed a month ago, when problems including overcrowding in care facilities and understaffing were raised, and services were given time to say what they would do about them.
Maria Kyratzi, director of the Social Welfare Services at the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, said efforts were being made to strengthen specialisation and a multidisciplinary approach in facilities for adolescents and in child protection facilities. The aim is to set up nine facilities, she said. State land has been found, local authorities have been informed and work is under way to prioritise them.
Discussion has also begun on how to implement a proposal by Deputy Minister of Social Welfare Tina Pavlou, made at the previous session, for therapeutic secure accommodation for children with high needs.
Several participants stressed that it was more important to create small, ‘family-style’ homes so that children could have a better quality of life.
The Health Ministry said it was setting up a working group to share information with the aim of creating a single digital record for children. The committee also heard that the Mental Health Services are severely understaffed.
