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“A child who is taken out of an unsafe environment immediately encounters several people: a psychologist, social workers, caregivers, children previously housed in an institution or with caregivers. Without a timely study on COVID-19, this entire chain of social assistance It is in danger. If it is not protected, both the unexamined child and other children who need help will suffer, there will simply be no one to take care of them, “says Roma Žakaitienė, Director of the Lithuanian Association of Municipalities (LSA), in a statement from press.
According to the association, children who are currently estranged from families due to unsafe circumstances are housed in a guardian or other childcare facilities. Employees of the Children’s Rights Protection Service (VTAT) who take children away generally do not have information about the child’s or family’s health status.
Municipal specialists say that the investigation must be attended by VTAT staff, they are the first to attend to the child before he enters other institutions and by law they become his temporary official representatives at this stage, who can only represent him in medical institutions.
However, according to the Association of Municipalities, the Ministry of Social Security and Labor, reported by VTAT, refuses to do so, arguing that such an investigation would not be in the best interest of the child.
Municipal specialists, according to the association, take the opposite point of view and take the position that not only would the best interests of the child not be harmed, on the contrary, they would be better protected.
“The municipality must guarantee a safe environment not only for the newly arrived child, but also for children already living in foster care. VTAT specialists must be able to communicate with the child in such a way that they feel safe and the exam does not cause additional stress. We must all have a stake in ensuring that daycare centers and families are not forced to isolate themselves and provide uninterrupted services, and that children do not have to find a new place. Rasa Šnapštienė, Deputy Mayor of the City of Kaunas, Vice Chairman of the Social Affairs Committee of LSA.
Municipalities also note that children are more likely to have an asymptomatic form of coronavirus and have a large number of social contacts that are generally not traceable. For this reason, the municipalities have already set up special safe places where the child can live, waiting for the results of the tests or, if he receives a positive response, to isolate himself.
If the negative result of the test is received, the child would be housed in a care institution according to the established security requirements: living in a separate room for 10 days, wearing a mask and others.
According to the association, the proposal to examine children removed from unsafe environments before being transferred to care institutions has the support of both doctors and representatives of public health centers.
The Association of Municipalities of Lithuania will approach the Ombudsman for the Protection of Children’s Rights, requesting support for the algorithm proposed by municipalities, which protects children in care and seeks to curb the spread of the pandemic.
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