CYIL vol. 15 (2024)

VIOLETA VASILIAUSKIENĖ, BIRUTĖ PRANEVIČIENĖ indicates that the social care institutions must ensure the protection of the child from violence, exploitation, discrimination, insults based on race, religion, disability, social status, personal qualities, abilities, etc. To ensure the child’s safety, all necessary specialist assistance, such as psychological counselling, should be provided when needed. The social care rules further stipulate that incidents of a negative nature occurring in the social care institution, such as accidents or violations of children’s rights, etc., must be recorded in the Logbook of incidents of a negative nature and their consequences for the child; the staff should analyse the causes for these incidents and take decisions on how to avoid them in the future 75 . T he social care institution’s staff must have the necessary professional education, training, licences and attestation certificates, as stipulated by the legislation. The institution must ensure that the staff’s work is guided by human ethics and the ethical codes of the relevant professions 76 . Requirements for the social care of adult persons with disabilities. The Description of social care rules regarding the short term and long-term social care of older persons and adult persons with disability states that the social care institution must ensure the protection of the individual residing in the institution against violence, exploitation, discrimination, abuse, coercion and insults based on his or her race, religion, disability, social status, nationality, state of health, personal characteristics, etc. In order to ensure the safety of the individual, the social care rules foresee that all accidents related to changes in the health status of a person, or violations of his/her personal rights must be recorded, the causes must be analysed, and the institution’s staff should take decisions necessary to prevent them in future. 77 Further implementation of the obligation of Article 16 of CRPD is established in a legal act of the Department of Supervision of Social Services, it has adopted the Recommendations on the Prevention of Violence against Children and Adults with Disabilities in Social Care Institutions, which outline the recommended actions for preventing violence in social care institutions and the procedures for responding to potential cases of violence; methods for assisting service users who are victims of violence in these institutions; informing and educating service users on violence prevention; obtaining help if they become victims of violence and addressing other related issues; and informing, screening, and enhancing the competences of staff and volunteers in violence prevention, recognition, and response. 78 However, the Lithuanian legal acts do not foresee any additional mandatory, specific legal provisions on the prevention of violence in social care institutions caring for children and adults with disabilities. The social care institutions foresee the measures of protection of their residents from violence in their internal acts. A research into the documents and practices related to the protection from violence for persons with disabilities residing in institutions has revealed that some of the social care institutions have specific internal documents aimed at prevention and response to violence, while in other social care institutions establish the provisions on prevention and response to violence in general documents, such as internal 75 Ibid, Annex No. 1, Art. 5.7. 76 Ibid, Annex No. 1, Art. 18.2–18.3. 77 Ibid, Annex No. 4, Art. 6.6. 78 Lietuvos Respublikos socialinių paslaugų priežiūros departamento prie Socialinės apsaugos ir darbo ministerijos direktoriaus 2021 m. sausio 11 d. įsakymas ‘Smurto prieš vaikus ir suaugusius asmenis, turinčius negalią, prevencijos rekomendacijos socialinės globos įstaigoms’ (Order of the Department of Social Services Supervision of the Republic of Lithuania of 11 January 2021 ‘Recommendations on the Prevention of Violence against Children and Adults with Disabilities for Social Care Institutions’) accessed 14 June 2024.

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