Terre des hommes presented the findings and recommendations of the "Participatory Research on the Perception of Children in Conflict with the Law on the Effectiveness and Impact of the Probation Service on their rehabilitation in Albania" conducted in collaboration with the General Directorate of the Probation Service.
While the Strategy of Justice for Children 2022-2026 and the Action Plan are still in the process of public consultation, this study’s findings constitute a good basis to improve the methodology and the continuation of the work for a friendly justice for every child who faces the law.
In her speech, the Head of Country Office of the Mission Terre des hommes in Albania, Mrs. Enkelejda Kallçiu, emphasized the purpose of this study:
"Today we present a concrete and innovative product, since, for the first-time, children are given the opportunity to express themselves about the services they receive. We as Terre des hommes have been supporters of the Juvenile Criminal Justice Reform and the relevant strategies that support it for 5 years. At the root of the reform is the empowerment of young people and the creation of a different approach to the provision of services. Part of it is to listen to the children's suggestions, precisely to strengthen the effect of the reform which aims at giving them a second chance, creating a positive impact on the re-integration of minors in conflict with the law, which cannot be achieved without the cooperation of all links, starting from the family, as the nucleus of society, and further state, private, national and international institutions."
The international standards of criminal justice for children, guaranteed by the Albanian Code of Criminal Justice for Minors, served as the basis of the research methodology, which was carried out through individual interviews and focus groups. The main target group were children aged 14 to 18, who are currently supervised by the Probation Service. Given that the transition to adulthood is a process, young people aged 18 to 21 whose supervision by Probation Services began when they were still under 18 were also invited to participate. In total, 32 participants from 8 territorial branches (Vlora, Durrës, Fieri, Berati, Shkodra, Tirana, Korça, Kukësi.) participated in focus group discussions aged 15-21, while most of them were 16-18 years old.