Child safety training in Vilnius

On 15th and 16th December 2008, training on the topic "How to assess and improve the safety of children in families" was carried out by Paramos vaikams centras (Children Support Center), Lithuanian partner organization in the Childhood without Abuse Project.
Two-day training gathered participants 8 participants form Latvia, mainly social workers and 10 Lithuanian NGO specialists, all of whom are working with abused and neglected children.

It offered an interesting mixture of short lectures, discussions and practical workshops about talking with and motivating children and parents. The trainers were Erna Petkute, psychologist, and Linas Slusnys, child psychiatrist.

Main themes covered during the training:

• assessment of child abuse and neglect.,
• decision making,
• talking with children,
• talking with parents,
• motivating parents and children for change,
  
• small interventions to improve safety,
• cooperation between different organizations (schools, police, Child Protection Agency, social workers, social pedagogues and NGOs).
  

Both Latvian as well as Lithuanian team took the training as the opportunity to present their work and exchange knowledge and experience with neighboring country specialists.