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PROJECT:Empirical analysis of the problems of children at risk and the
evaluation of the existing factors of protection
Prepared by the Institute of Social Work and Social Policy with support from UNICEF Office in Skopje
Skopje, 2004
1
Contents
Introduction 3
I. Framework of research 6
II. Results from the research 8
1. General data on the household 9
2. Completion of functions in the family 19
Conditions of the home for successful studying Capacities of the parents to help the children in the studying Cooperation of the parents with the school Parents’ way of handling with the problems of their children
3. The current condition of the children at risk 30
4. Institutions for social protection of the children at risk 55
5. Police force and Public Prosecution Office for protection of children at risk 56
Conclusion 69
Recommendations 74
Annex 79
2
INTRODUCTION
The unfavourable economic and political conditions in the Republic of
Macedonia have an influence upon the increase of the social problems and
occurrences within the population. The number of the socially endangered persons is
also increasing, in such way that certain risk groups are in the most unfavourable
condition, and the children are among them.
The world findings in the field of social protection, social work, social
pedagogy and psychology point out a prevalent trend in the researches for the essence
and the causes of the social endangerment of the children.
In the Republic of Macedonia there is certain scientific information on the
conditions of some risks, which is at out disposal, but it is necessary to continue with
the researches of this multidimensional problem, so that the current findings could be
generalized.
In Macedonia, we have at our disposal certain theoretical data about the risky
situations that the families find themselves in. It refers to the children who have
suffered a stoppage in the development of their potentials because of different
reasons.
However, there is a lack of detailed researches, through which the social
dimension of the problem would be assessed. In most scientific works, the social
endangerment signifies “unfavourable condition of the individual, the social group or
the social layer, which does not have conditions and possibilities for a relatively
durable and adequate satisfaction of the existential needs” (Lakicevic M., 1987).
The term “children at risk” does not exist in the legal regulative (Law on
social protection, 1997), instead only the term risk of motherhood and family can be
found, and the children are encompassed by the terms “children and young people
with educational-social problems and disturbed behaviour.” From a theoretical point
of view, the children at risk are children and young people who, because of social
reasons, suffer or will suffer a disturbed behaviour (Dimitrijoska S., 2001).
The social needs that have not been satisfied cause a series of problems in the
conduct of children, especially asocial forms of conduct (roaming around, loafing,
skipping school, etc.). The child with a problematic behaviour is not a delinquent; it is
a child exposed to risk that comes into contact with the law.
3
The aim of this project is to make a deeper analysis of the kinds of children at
risk, their problems and an evaluation of the existing factors of protection that are
being applied in the system for protection of children in our country.
Even though the risks that are most frequently mentioned in the professional
literature are the ones that originate from the disturbed relations within the family and
the social environment (school and local community) as well as the ones that are
caused by the social factors, in this study occurrences in the Republic of Macedonia
are being considered, where the risks, taken as an object of the analysis, are the
following:
1. Children without parents. When both parents are either unknown or not alive,
then it is said that a child has been left without both parents.
2. Children who have no parental care - the parents are prevented from
providing the parental care because of a temporary or permanent
incompletion of their parental duty, illness, absence due to work abroad, or
serving a sentence in a correctional institution.
3. Children who have no parental care - the parents have abandoned the
children and have neglected them, therefore they have been deprived their
parental right, and the children are protected with one of the forms of social
protection.
4. Children coming from families with a low life standard are children that come
from families who obtain a permanent financial aid or public welfare.
5. Children coming from families with disturbed family relations are children
who live in families that have no positive communication between the parents.
6. Children - educationally neglected are juveniles with asocial behaviour:
roaming around, running away from home, loafing, skipping school, indecent
behaviour; however they are not involved in criminal acts.
7. Juveniles who are criminally unaccountable are children that have done a
criminal act, but have not yet turned 14.
8. Children with development disabilities. According to the Book of regulations
for an evaluation of the specific needs of persons with disabilities in their
physical or psychological development (Official Gazette of the Republic of
Macedonia number 30/2000), people with disabilities in the physical or
psychological development are:
Persons with damaged sight (partially sighted and blind)
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Persons with damaged hearing (hard of hearing and deaf)
Persons with voice, speech and language disorders;
Persons with a physical disability;
Persons with mental disabilities (light, moderate, severe)
Autistic persons;
Persons with chronic diseases;
Persons with more than one kind of a disability (persons with
combined disabilities in their development).
9. Juveniles with one parent. A child that is living with one parent and the other
parent is either deceased or unknown, or lives separated from the child.
10. Children coming from families going through a divorce suit. A child living
with parents who have filed for divorce because of a discord.
11. Children coming from families where the parents or one parent suffers from
impaired health. The child is living in a family where one of the parents or the
members of the family has a disability according to the Book of regulations
for an evaluation of the specific needs of persons with disabilities in their
physical or psychological development or is suffering from a chronic disease
and is in a need of permanent care and help.
12. Children that have changed the place of residence. Children that have changed
the place of residence because of an armed conflict or another reason.
In the study special attention will be paid to:
The nature of the existential needs that have not been met, from a material
aspect (food, clothes, shelter, health protection), as well as from a nonmaterial
aspect (care, fosterage, education and teaching);
Analysis of the functions within the family (natural and foster family) and
values;
General data on children at risk;
Phases of the problem (beginners and advanced phase);
Distribution of children who have come into contact with the law.
Factors of protection, which imply:
Bio-psycho-social potentials of the child at risk (emotional and health state)
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Micro-environment where the child is growing up and developing -
completion of the function by the family.
Analysis of the broader social environment (the neighbourhood, the relatives,
and the peers).
Macro-environment in which the influence of the school, local community and
the wider social factors is being considered, as well as the institutions for
social protection in the system and the NGOs.
Determining the levels of efficiency and respect of the procedural regulations
by the authorized persons (Centres for social work, Public Institution (PI) -
Home for infants and young children - Bitola, PI - Children’s home “11
Oktomvri” - Skopje, PI for fostering children with educational-social problems
- Skopje, PI - Bureau for fosterage and education of children and young people
“Ranka Milanovic” - Skopje, PI - Bureau for rehabilitation of children and
young people - Skopje, PI - Bureau for protection and rehabilitation of
physically handicapped persons - Banja Bansko - Strumica, PI - Special
bureau - Demir Kapija, the police force and the Public Prosecution Office).
Suggested measures for an efficient functioning of the factors of protection
(preventive and therapeutic social work).
I. Framework of the research
1. Description of the research procedure
The standard methods that are used in the researches of the social work have
been used in this research as well. A theoretical framework, which is based on the
analysis of scientific hypotheses, has been prepared for the research, as well as
researches relevant to specific problems that have provided comparative analysis.
The general goal of the project is to obtain findings about the problems of the
children at risk.
In order to accomplish this goal, in the period between February 15 th and
March 15th 2004, a research has been conducted in 10 municipalities in the Republic
of Macedonia, in which, according to the statistical data for the year of 2002 (Bureau
for social activities, Skopje, 2003), the percentage of the risks is the highest. On the
other hand, when selecting the 10 municipalities, indicators have been taken into
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consideration, according to the analysis of the human development index (HDI) in the
Republic of Macedonia, determining three levels of development of the
municipalities: high, medium and low level.
As a result of crossing the two sources of information, the research has been
conducted in the following municipalities: Kumanovo 20 cases, Tetovo 40 cases,
Kisela Voda 44 cases, Cair 42 cases, Delcevo 14 cases, Skopje 25 cases, Gevgelija 10
cases, Ohrid 20 cases, Kicevo 13 cases and Veles 25 cases - a total of 245 cases of
children at risk.
A quantitative research of the representative sample comprising 0.1% of the
whole population of children in the Republic of Macedonia (245 children and young
people at the age between 0 and 18, Statistical yearbook of the Republic of
Macedonia, 1995). The research has been conducted in urban and rural environments,
sufficiently and insufficiently developed areas, respecting the geographical
distribution.
The basic technique in the research is the applied interview with the parents of
the children at risk, with a previously prepared, structured questionnaire.
The children at risk are between 0 and 18 years of age and are divided into
three age groups: 0-6 years, 7-14 years and 15-18 years. The selection of the number
of examinees was conditioned by the representation of the risk factors, in percentages,
in the corresponding areas.
An evaluation of the current factors of protection in the system for protection
of the children in the Republic of Macedonia has also been conducted.
A qualitative analysis of a chosen representative sample of professional employed in
the public institutions, who are involved in the work with children and young people.
Interviews have been made with the professional staff employed in the PI Inter-
municipal centre of social work, Skopje, Veles, Tetovo, PI - Home for Infants and
Young Children - Bitola, PI - Children’s Home “11 Oktomvri” - Skopje, PI for
fostering children with educational-social problems - Skopje, PI - Bureau for
fosterage and education of children and young people “Ranka Milanovic” - Skopje, PI
- Bureau for rehabilitation of children and young people - Skopje, PI - Bureau for
protection and rehabilitation of physically handicapped persons - Banja Bansko -
Strumica, PI - Special bureau - Demir Kapija, Public Prosecutors in Skopje, Tetovo,
Veles and inspectors for juvenile delinquency in Skopje, Veles and Tetovo.
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2. Hypotheses
The existing findings concerning the analysis of the problems, allow us to set
the following hypotheses:
The bad economic conditions in the families are the main reasons for the
occurrence of all the risk factors which the children are exposed to;
There is a greater risk in the development of the children within the families
who come from rural areas, compared to those coming from the urban
environment;
The education of the parents is a factor that influences upon the risky
condition;
The health insurance is not a factor that causes risk among the children;
The existing factors of protection provided by the state to the families are not
complementary. Most of the time there is one form of protection applied;
There has not been a methodology built for the police force in the work with
children that have come into contact with the law.
3. Encountered problems during the research
Through the process of carrying out the research, the best contacts were
achieved with the families that are characterized by a low life standard, whereas there
was a problem in establishing a contact with the families going through a divorce
procedure.
During the research, there was a difficulty in establishing contacts with the
representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Public Prosecution Office,
despite the fact that a permit to carry out the research had been acquired from the
Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Justice.
II. Results from the research
The research encompassed 245 children and young people at risk (139 males
and 106 females), 30 children ad young people live in rural areas (villages), and 215
in urban areas; 22 are at the age between 0-6 years; 161 children are a the age
between 7-14 and between 15 and 18 years of age are 62 young people.
Professor Maria Donevska
8
1. General data on the household
The data obtained in the second part of the questionnaire for parents of
children at risk are related to the general data on the household. They have been
structured as responses to 14 questions, which, further in the analysis, have been
compared both among themselves and with the data from the first part of the
questionnaire, i.e. the data on the nationality and the place of residence.
The question on the level of education of the parents offers a total of 11
categories of answers. They can be categorized into four broader categories: persons
without education, persons with elementary education (4 or 8 grades completed),
persons with secondary education (2-3-year secondary education or 4-year of
vocational education or high school graduates), and persons with higher or post-
secondary education. The total number of the examinees, i.e. parents of both sexes, is
424, 199 of who are males, and 225 females. The gathered data shows that 22.41% of
the examinees have no education, 42.45% have elementary education, 31.37% have
secondary education and 3.54% of the total number have completed higher education.
Graph 1 Educational structure of the parents.
The data points out a certain structure and heterogeneity regarding the
nationality and the level of education of the parents. Members of the three larger
national groups, encompassed in the sample, have been compared.
It has been noted that among the Macedonians, a larger portion - 51.67% have
completed secondary education, vocational or high school. 35.41% have completed
elementary education, and a small portion - 6.7% have no education. Within the
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Macedonian population, 5.74% have higher education. 80% of the total number of
persons who have completed higher or postsecondary education are Macedonians.
Among the Albanian population the data shows the following: 6.56% have no
education, and 4.92% have completed higher or post-secondary education, which
point out to the great similarity with the Macedonian population. However, there is en
evident difference regarding the elementary and secondary education. The majority of
the Albanian examinees have elementary education - 75.41%, and a much smaller
portion have secondary education - 13.12%.
As far as the members of the Roma are concerned, there is a remarkable
portion of the persons that have no education, who comprise 56.30% of the total
number of Roma examinees. 37.20% have completed elementary education, and a
very small number have completed secondary education - 5.88%. The obtained data is
presented in the following graph.
Graph 2 Nationality and level of education
If the data on the educational structure of the parents (members of the
household) is compared with the type of risk of the child, the following is showed:
In the category “children without parents” 35% of the persons who are taking
care of the children are without education, same is the percentage of those with
4 years of elementary school, and 20% of them have completed secondary
vocational education.
10
The largest portion of the parents of “children coming from families with a
low life standard” has elementary education - 52.52%, whereas 25.18% have
no education, and 22.3% have secondary education.
Within the category “juveniles coming from families with disturbed family
relations” 32.5% of the parents have elementary education as well as those
who have secondary education, and 27.5% have no education.
The parents of the children who fall into the “children with asocial behaviour”
in most cases - 54.17% have elementary education, with 4 or 8 grades
completed.
The data for the category “juveniles who are criminally unaccountable” shows
that their parents in 43.9% of the cases have completed elementary school.
What appears to be specific is that 30% of the total numbers of parents who
have completed higher or postsecondary education are actually parents of
children from this category.
The educational structure of the parents, within the category “juveniles with
special needs,” shows that in 41.3% of the cases they have completed
secondary education.
“Juveniles living with one parent” is a category where the majority of the
examinees - 38.3% have elementary education, 36.17% have no education, and
23.45% have completed secondary education.
The majority - 70.97% of the parents of “juveniles coming from families who
have filed for divorce” have secondary education.
There has been data gathered about the number of members in the household,
which, in terms of the risk, show minor differences that are, most probably, due to the
small number of examinees included in the sample. A larger part of the twelve given
categories of risk have less than 20 examined households, which offers a small
possibility to make a distinction in terms of the number of members in the household.
In the category “children without parents,” the majority of the families are composed
of three members. The category “children coming from families with a low life
standard” shows that these children come from families with a different number of
members. What is striking is that the category “juveniles with special needs” offers
the data that 52.17% are actually households composed of two members, i.e. the
children live with one parent.
11
The monthly incomes of all the members of the households are an indicator of
the socio-economic state of the household. From the obtained responses it is
noticeable that more than a half of the households have monthly incomes less than
5,000 denars. The state of the rest of the households can be assessed from the
following graph.
Graph 3 Monthly incomes of the household
The comparison of the level of monthly incomes and the type of risk points out
several more specific moments.
“The families with a low life standard” in 78.38% of the cases have monthly
incomes of less than or equal to 5000 denars, and in 17.57% less than or equal
to 10000 denars, which is within the limits of the expected for this type of a
risk.
The monthly incomes of the “families with disturbed family relations” in most
cases - 40% are up to 5000 denars; and households that have incomes between
10001 and 20000 denars are of the same percentage.
The data shows that within the category “juveniles who are criminally
unaccountable” 33.33% of the households have monthly incomes less than
5000 denars. Between 5001 and 10000 a month have 23.81% of the
household, and 19.05% of them have monthly incomes between 10001 and
15000 denars. The same is the percentage of those who have between 15001
and 20000 denars.
The households of “juveniles with special needs” in the largest portion -
47.83% have incomes of less than or equal to 5000 denars a month, 17.39%
have between 5001 and 10000 denars, and the rest have more than 10001
denars.
12
In the category of “juveniles coming from families who have filed for divorce”
a total of 31.25% are households that have monthly incomes of more than
15001 denars.
The following data is related to the assessment of the household regarding the
level of monthly incomes and the possibility to satisfy the needs with these incomes .
The largest group of examinees have answered that they do not have enough money
and that they are “making ends meet” - 37.14%. Moreover, the majority of the
examinees get by in such way that they save a lot by satisfying their basic, existential
needs or by buying the cheapest food. Part of the examinees think that the monthly
incomes do meet their needs in a satisfying extent, and part of them do that by saving.
Within a certain part of the households, the resources do not provide food sufficiently,
so they skip part of the everyday meals. The following graph shows the possibility for
the households to satisfy their basic needs.
Graph 4 Monthly incomes and satisfaction of the needs
As far as the variety of the nutrition is concerned, the gathered data shows that
for some of the products there is no difference between the households in rural and
urban areas. That might be a result of the eating habits which are typical for this
region. Some of the products fall into the group of necessary, vital groceries.
Regarding the agricultural products, there are also no differences in their usage in
households in rural and urban environment, which may be conditioned by the fact that
those people living in rural areas are unable to produce them, because of different
reasons. There are more notable differences in the regular consumption of meat, eggs,
13
milk, margarine, vegetables, fruits and sugar. The gathered data shows that the
families in the urban area (the city) consume the given products more regularly
compared to those living in the rural areas. The same can be observed in the following
graph:
Graph 5 Availability of products in the urban and rural areas
There has been data regarding the regularity of the warm meal being prepared
obtained from the general data. This data compared with the number of members in
the household, points out to certain evenness in the preparation of a warm meal. This
could be due to the availability of the products necessary for the preparation, as well
as the established habits in the nutrition people have.
Graph 6 Regularity of a warm meal
The questionnaire offers data about the type of ownership of the apartment the
household lives in, whether it is privately owned, rented or owned by relatives, etc.
There is also data about the area, i.e. the squaring of the apartment. The data shows
14
that 70.2% of the households own their own apartment, 8.57% live in a rented
apartment, and the other 21.23% live in an apartment with a different ownership.
Graph 7 Ownership of the apartment
The comparison of the type of ownership and the type of the risk points out
the following:
“The families with a low life standard” in 60.81% of the cases live in their
own apartment with an area of less than or equal to 65 m², and 16.22% live in
a privately owned apartment bigger than 66 m². 6.76% of the households live
in a rented apartment, and the other 16.22% have an apartment with a different
ownership.
Within the category of “families with disturbed family relations” in 70% of the
cases they live in an owned apartment and 10% use a rented apartment.
The households of “juveniles with an asocial behaviour” in 76.92% of the
cases have their own apartment. 69.57% of the households where “juveniles
with special needs” live have their own apartment. This is also confirmed in
64.71% of the cases in the category of “juveniles coming from families that
have initiated a divorce procedure” who also own an apartment.
“Juveniles who are criminally unaccountable” and their families live in their
own apartment in 66.67% of the cases, whereas 18.05% live in a rented
apartment, and the other 14.28% live in an apartment that does not fall under
any of these two categories.
The existence of a communal infrastructure is assumed to depend on the place
of residence, i.e. whether the home is located in an urban or a rural area. Taking into
consideration the circumstances in our country, a lot of great differences have not
been expected, which was also confirmed. This is due to the partially equal material
status of the households who are most often users of a financial aid or social welfare,
15
as well as to the existence of relatively good communal infrastructure in the rural
areas.
Graph 8 Communal infrastructure
The quality of the residential space of the household is varied through sever
types of homes: improvisations, ruined shacks or apartments, dilapidated house or
apartment, shed, basement, a decent apartment and other. The data shows that 16.53%
of the Macedonians live in a dilapidated house, 11.57% of them live in a decent
apartment and 62.81% live in a different home. 20% of the Albanians live in a
dilapidated house. Half of the Turks have a substandard home, i.e. improvisation.
54.41% of the Roma live in a dilapidated house or a shed.
Maintaining the hygiene in the home, or more precisely the member of the
family doing this, is also part of the general question on the household. A difference
between the households in the urban and the ones in the rural areas is assumed, given
the traditional role of the woman in the home, as well as the greater probability and
possibility of a work engagement of the woman outside the home. The obtained data
confirm the assumptions about the greater engagement of the women in the homes
located in the rural areas, but by and large the woman in both environments is the
main carrier of the responsibilities regarding the maintenance of the hygiene in the
home. This is also evident in the following graph:
16
Graph 9 Maintenance of the hygiene in the home.
Health insurance is one of the indicators that are obtained from the general
data on the household. The number of the individuals who have not been included in
the health insurance is small, due to our health insurance system that the unemployed
individuals receive. The majority of the households - 81.22% are households where
all of the members have health insurance, whereas the number of those in which only
one member is insured, or nobody is insured, is much smaller.
Graph 10 Health insurance
The state of equipment of the household with house furnishing is an indicator
of the material status of the households. The data shows that most households possess
the necessary appliances used for preparing and storing food, such as the stove or
refrigerator, but also most of the households own a TV set, which is most probably
considered to be an appliance that provides certain social communication. This can be
observed in the following overview:
17
Graph 11 State of equipment with house furnishings
The answers to the question about the possibility of the household to set aside
part of the home budget for clothing and footwear can be grouped into several
categories. Most of them supply themselves only when it is necessary or with the help
of relatives, and a very small number of the households are able to renew the clothing
for all the members of the family without any problem. This is shown in the following
graph:
Graph 12 Supply of clothing and footwear
If this issue is considered regarding the national structure, the data shows that
the largest portion of the Macedonians - 34.45% renew the clothing only when it is
18
absolutely necessary for the children. 30.77% of the Albanians and 64.29% of the
Turks renew the clothing by receiving the already worn clothes from relatives and
friends. 34.25% of the cases within the Roma receive clothing from their relatives and
friends.
PhD Divna Lakinska
2. Performing the functions in the family
Introduction
The family represents a significant segment in the life of each and everyone of
his members, but also for its reputation as a whole. Within the family, there are
several functions being accomplished, primarily the economic, the social i.e. the
parental functions.
In the contemporary society, in the transitional period there are no institutions
that would help the realization of the parental activities (an available regime for
children’s allowance, available criteria for placing the children in preschool
institutions, youth organizations, youth cultural centres, a sufficient number of
internet cafés, availability of school kitchen and a warm meal for the children, resorts
and summer camps, etc.). These benefits from the previous system have disappeared
to a great extent, or are to be found in a ruinous condition with limited resource which
would enable them to function.
The sector of nongovernmental organizations (NGO), with the support from
projects, partially without any support and supervision of the state, has somewhat had
its share in the protection of the children, in terms of substituting the parental
function.
On the other hand, the school becomes less and less attractive both for the
children and for the interest of the parents who would like their children to be regular
and successful students.
The abundant amount of facts that burden the curriculum and leads to
encyclopaedism, directs the learning process mainly to the process of memorizing
without providing a possibility for application and pragmatism of the gained
knowledge.
19
The easier activity, teaching the lessons, is performed by the teacher, in most
cases through a one-way communication, which conditions the student to do the
harder part, i.e. to realize the learning of the material at home, most often with the
support and help of parents.
The school, unjustifiably, blames the parents for the poor results, behaviour
and regular attendance of the student. However, most of the time, they are not able to
perform this very complex and difficult task because they spend most of the time
outside the family, either to find a way to make a living or their intellectual and
mental level is low and therefore they are not capable of helping the child in the
learning process, or control their child’s attitude towards the school.
Very often the parents, pressured by the great, economic instability and
poverty, are forced to involve themselves in illegal trade deals, in which they also
involve their children, because in case of getting caught, because of the engagement
of the children, they avoid the criminal responsibility.
The parents are trapped in the changes brought by the transition, and in most
cases it is very difficult to perform their parental function well and lead themselves to
a situation where they lose control over many issues regarding the care and the
education of their children.
Therefore, a significant part of this research is dedicated to studying the
quality of the level of performance of the parental functions in the family.
In the questionnaire, within the frame of the project “Empirical analysis of the
problems of children at risk and the evaluation of the existing factors of protection,”
the third chapter has been completely dedicated to those issues related with the
parents’ performance of the family functions, and primarily directed towards the care
of the parents from urban and rural areas, the incomes and the nationality. Through
the 12 tables there have been several issues presented, which, in order to be more
easily studied, are grouped into four wholes regarding:
1. Providing their children with conditions for studying;
2. The capacity of the parents to help their child with the studying;
3. The cooperation of the parents with the school and the appropriate educational
and social institutions;
4. Parents’ way of handling the problems manifested by their children.
The data taken of each whole is first presented in tables with figures and
percentages, followed by an explicative analysis, conclusions and recommendations.
20
2.1 The capacity of the parents and the conditions in the whole for
successful studying of their children is studied through the following indicators (see
Annex: Table 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and Overview 6):
Abilities to handle the issue of satisfying the child’s needs according to the
place of residence;
Conditions for studying according to the place of residence;
School supplies at disposal according to the place of residence;
School supplies at disposal according to the monthly incomes;
School supplies at disposal according to the nationality;
Conditions for studying according to the nationality;
Room in which the children sleep, according to the nationality;
Abilities to handle the issue of satisfying the child’s needs according to the
nationality;
Health problems in the family.
2.2 The capacity of the parents to help their children with the studying is
studied through the following indicators (see Annex: Tables 5 and 6):
Education level of the parents;
Helping the child with the studying, according to the place of residence;
Engagement of the parents outside the home;
Capacity of the parents to help their child with the studying, considered from
an aspect of education and time;
Basic hindrances among the parents regarding their helping the child when
doing his homework and studying.
2.3 The cooperation of the parents with the school and the corresponding
educational and social institutions is studied through the following indicators (See
Annex: tables 4 and 5, Overview 3, 9, 10, 12, 14, 17):
A need and an opportunity for education for responsible parenthood;
Cooperation of the parents with the school;
Undertaken measures towards the child in the school;
Institutions the family has established contacts with;
Forms of using the leisure time;
21
The attitude of the students towards their school obligations;
The behaviour in the previous school year;
Participation of the students in forms of parallel education.
2.4 Parents’ way of handling the problems of their children is studied
through the following indicators (See Annex: tables 3 and 11, Overview 1, 2, 3, 7, 11,
13, 16):
Talking to the child, according to the place of residence;
Level of information about the child’s activities;
Free time and hobbies of the children;
Differing of the parents’ educational influences;
Reasons for not attending school;
Characteristics of the children’s friends;
Visits between the child and its friends.
Processing the data
The parents’ capacity and the conditions in the home for successful studying
The data in this whole is presented in 8 tables and 1 overview and are related
to three basic indicators:
The ability to handle the issue of satisfying the child’s (student’s) needs;
Conditions for studying at home;
School supplies and equipment at disposal.
The indicators are most often compared with the place of residence of the
family (rural-urban), the nationality and the monthly incomes as basic symbols of the
family status.
The life and conditions for studying of the student in the parental home are
crucial to every student, since most of the school obligations have to be successfully
realized at home, which takes approximately 4-5 hours for writing homework and
studying.
87.8% of all the studied families live in urban areas and 36% of them have the
ability to deal with the issue of satisfying the basic needs of their child, whereas
66.5% of the parents have stated that they do not have the appropriate abilities or it is
very difficult to find them, 7.4% of which are at the very edge of existence.
22
Only 13.3% of the examined parents who live in rural areas are able to satisfy
the basic needs of their children, while 66.6% are not capable to provide to their child
the basic conditions for studying, and 20% of them are at the edge of existence. We
assume that the population in the rural areas is left on its own to struggle for its
existence, in most cases through natural production, where the children are often
much more engaged in the tasks around the households (live stock, ploughed field)
than in school obligations.
Regarding the family living space the research showed that the majority of the
families in urban and rural areas do not own an adequate residential space. Of all of
the families living in rural areas, 30% of the students have their own room, while the
other 70% sleep in shared premises or in inadequate premises. Moreover, only 33% of
the examined children living in urban areas have their own room, while the other 67%
sleep in a shared room or in inadequate premises.
In terms of the nationality, the current state is as follows: 63.3% of the
Macedonian children have their own room (which, we assume, is due to the low birth
rate and the opinions of the parents they ought to sleep in an adapted space, and
provide the children their own room). Only 39.2% of the Albanian families stated that
their children have their own room which they use on their own or share it with their
brothers and sisters. In the rural areas, the Albanian population builds houses
according to tradition and has good residential conditions.
Conclusion: We consider the right to use their own room or to provide the
minimum residential conditions for the children threatened, and this brings along
several negative effects, both upon the health of the child and its development, and the
possibility of spending most of the day outside the home.
In order to achieve regular and successful learning it is of great significance to
own books and school supplies, not only for school needs, but also to be able to
study at home. The biggest and the most frequent problem that the parents have is the
ability to buy the basic school supplies with the material resources they have,
however, very often, buying second-hand school books and having no conditions in
the family for an appropriate space for them, affects the poor motivation and the bad
attitude towards the learning and the school.
In terms of the place of residence of the examined families, 48% of the
parents are not able to buy all of the school books for their children, and 41.2% of the
23
parents also cannot afford the school supplies. These children use old school books
(often not appropriate), or they use the school books of their friends.
The situation with the rural families is similar. Only 53.3% of the parents are
able to buy school books and 46.6% of them are also able to buy the school supplies
for their children. This leads to the conclusion that more than a half of the students
living in urban and rural areas do not have the elementary conditions that are adequate
in order to approach to school, learning and school obligations. All of which, most
often, affects negatively the interest, the motivation for learning and the poor results.
As far as the monthly incomes of the parents and the ability to buy school
books and supplies are concerned, in the research it was showed that only about
53.3% of the parents, who have higher incomes, manage to buy school books and
46.6% of them manage to buy the school supplies. The research showed that after all
of the necessary expenses are set aside, there is not much left of the parental salary to
use for providing school book and supplies for the children.
In terms of the nationality, 88.7% of the examined parents who are
Macedonians have managed to buy school books for their children, while 78.5% also
managed to buy the school supplies. Only 42.8% of the parents in the examined
Albanian families have bought their children school books and 46.4% of them have
also bought school supplies.
The school books as an important and efficient means in the studying,
including the school supplies, often do not represent a priority in the family budget,
primarily among the Albanian population that was examined, while among the Roma,
the data that there are no possibilities to buy school books in 23.3% of the cases and
school supplies in 18.6% of the cases points out to the most endangered conditions for
studying.
Conclusion: In terms of all of the studied parameters that demonstrate the
ability, i.e. the capacity of the parents to provide conditions and possibilities for
regular and successful learning to the child, it has been showed this is highly
unsatisfactory and that maybe this is where we find the most important factors which
influence upon the positive attitude of the student towards the school.
Capacity of the parents to help their children with the studying
24
Regarding this segment of the studying of the completion of family functions -
the active help of the parent in the immediate studying of the child (student) at home -
the data will be analyzed through two segments:
The help of the parent in the immediate studying the child does at home, in
both urban and rural areas;
The need and the opportunity for education of the parents for family life and
helping their children with the studying.
In this direction of the research, it has been showed that only 32% of the
parents living in urban areas and 33% of those living in rural areas have stated that
they can help their child in the studying, primarily having in mind their efforts to
influence the children, to dedicate more time to studying and to control the time the
children spend studying. Often, the parents influence the elder children so they help
the younger children with their studying.
In the research, from the overview no. 4, it can be noted that only 8.2% of the
parents have stated that they have attended meetings in the school, focused on
improving their capacities for a more successful family life and helping their
children’s studying. The rest of the parents haven’t had that opportunity, but all of
them have expressed the unavoidable need and duty, primarily of the school and the
nongovernmental organizations, for organizing various educational forms for parents.
Cooperation of the parents with the school
In terms of the third segment of the research, the relationships parent - school
have been studied, from the aspect of cooperation with the school and monitoring the
child regarding their school obligations.
This part of the research will be studied through the following indicators:
cooperation between the parents and the school; the opinion of the parents
regarding their child’s attitude towards the school obligations, how well informed the
parents are about their child’s behaviour, how well informed they are about the
participation of their child in the school and the extracurricular activities.
The research showed that only 42.4% of the parents regularly complete their
obligations with the school and attend the informative discussions and parents’
meetings, while the rest of them either come to the school only when they are asked to
do that or do not come at all. This points out the low level of cooperation, primarily
25
from an aspect of becoming aware that in order to achieve success in the learning, the
school as an institution is not sufficient.
As for the information of the parents on their child’s attitude towards the
school and school obligations, the parents for 7.5% of the students have stated that
they have noticed poor concentration when their children are studying, for 18.3% of
the students they have stated that they have a problem with remembering the material
they are studying, and for 14% of the students the parents have stated that their
children are not interested in studying. However, 23% of the parents have stated that
their children are interested in studying and are regularly completing their school
obligations. For 23.4% of the students the parents have stated that their children make
an effort, try hard and by doing that they achieve the results at school. All of this
creates the need for a greater and more significant role of the school in teaching the
children, and primarily for those children who because of certain reasons, despite their
wish to learn, are not able to do that on their own and to achieve satisfactory results.
The parents should inform themselves not only for the results, but also for the
behaviour of their child, as well as for its participation in the school activities. From
the research it can be observed that the parents know about their children’s attitude at
school and 84% of the students have exemplary behaviour, which leads us to the
conclusion that the social climate among these students is satisfactory and the school
enjoys the authority as an educational institution. The parents have also supported the
need for organizing extracurricular activities in the school (sports, folklore clubs,
courses) in which their children would be actively involved (28.2%).
Parents’ way of handling the problems of their children
In terms of the educational capacities of the parents and their way of handling
the problems of their children, the data is presented through the following indicators:
ways of educating the child; differing between the parents in their educational
influences; communication and relationships with the children in the family; level of
information on the social life of the child and ways of handling the problems their
children have.
In the research, the ways of educating the child are related to the type of the
parental authority. In the research it has been showed that 17% of the parents behave
autocratically with their children, 61.6% of the parents have stated that in their family
26
life is based on democratic relationships, while 18.37% of the parents, base their
family relations and relationships on the independence of each family member.
Despite that, the educational influences between the parents often are not
coordinated. In our research it has been showed that in 30.2% of the families there is a
discordance of the influences between the father and the mother, which, we assume, is
often abused by the children in different aspects, and is also reflected upon the mutual
respect and the respect in the relation parent - child. The reason for such relations may
be the very small involvement or non-involvement of the parents in an organized
social work, either within the school or the professional social institutions. Further
more, popular literature does not exist or is not available for the parents, and also for
the children, on topics related to this important issue.
In the context of the abovementioned, the indicator that presents the findings
of the parents from an aspect of how well they are informed on the most significant
events and activities of their children was also studied, through direct
conversations. In the research it has been noted that in the largest number of the
families the percentage of usual communication parent - child is high (73.9%), more
precisely 74.4% of them are relations parent - child in urban areas and 70% in rural
areas.
The basic information that parents obtain from the children are related to
the familiarity with the friends, in 47%, of the cases, where and how they spend the
pocket money, 43.3% of the families, where do they usually go after school, in 42.4%
of the families, where do they go out at night, in 40.8% of the families and 43.3% of
the families know what activities the children are involved with in their leisure time.
However, for the rest of the families, more than 55% of the parents are somewhat
informed about the abovementioned activities. We think that the state of the
percentage received should not be neglected. It would be useful for the parents to
have information at least about the basic, everyday activities of the child, primarily
from an aspect of preventing the possibility the child to go “the wrong way,” and the
parents to find out about that too late and, in many cases, when it would be difficult
for them to do something about it.
The research showed that in about 84% of the families the parents have stated
that their children have exemplary behaviour at school, i.e. they attend regularly and
are disciplined in class.
27
Also, in 60% of the families, the parents think that the friends their children
hang out with are good and positively influence each other; 43.7% of the parents
have stated that the children are hanging out together on regular basis.
The largest percentage of the institutions that the family establishes contact
with are the Centres for social work, 89.8%, then the social institutions, 3.7%, while
44.9% of the parents establish contact with the school. These percentages point out
that the family, or the parents, need and receive the adequate help and protection from
the professional institutions.
Conclusion
The completion of the family functions represents a significant segment in
the research, primarily from an aspect of the parents. In order to process the obtained
results more simply and clearly they have been grouped into four groups of data. The
first group of data studies the abilities of the parents and the parental home to help and
support their children, primarily with their studying. More than a half of the families
included in the research, despite their wishes, are not capable to provide their
children the adequate conditions for the stay and studying of the children, and
also for helping them with the studying. Because of this, it is recommended that
Day centres are opened, or in other words more possibilities in the Day stays in the
school for writing the homework, studying and perform free activities.
It is recommended that the schools and the appropriate social and
cultural-educational institutions engage together with the nongovernmental
sector in order to more systematically organize the education of the parents regarding
the life in a family and education of the children.
The school should open itself towards the environment which it is located
in: the local community, the nongovernmental organizations, the parents’ boards and
organizations, in order to be a central institution responsible to the society, with a
wide range of a lot of activities outside the regular curriculum and the learning
process of the students.
Apart from the teachers and the homeroom teachers of the classes, an
increasing significance and responsibility has been given to the professional team:
pedagogue, social worker, psychologist, special education teacher. Their basic task
is the care for improving the educational influences among the students, reducing the
social tensions and problems among the students. The social workers, on the other
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hand, with their professional capacities should cooperate with the families of the
students by using the different professional approaches in their work.
Ph D Dimitrijoska Sunchica
3. The current condition of the children at risk
Regarding the health condition of the children, the data enables us to state
that the majority of the children at risk, 79.59%, are healthy. 6.12% of the children
and young people have chronic diseases, and 5.31% have acute illnesses. It can be
concluded that the current state of the children’s health is good, taking into
consideration the conditions which they live in.
Graph 1 Health state of the children
Special needs are present among 23 children, 15 of which are males and 8
females. As far as the causes of the occurrence of a special need are concerned, 14 are
of organic origin and 9 are causatively conditioned.
Regarding the nutrition problems of the child at risk, in 170 families there are
no problems, and in the rest of the families there are such problems, where the most
emphasized is the usage of fast food, 40 children, and 8 of the children have problem
with the weight, obesity.
The participation of the children in different activities apart from the regular
curriculum is an issue for which several answers are offered, typical for the age of the
examinees. These are: sport practices, folklore, courses, computers, religion lectures
etc. If the data is structured according to the age of the children and the type of the
activity, then they show that in most cases the given answer is the sport practices,
29
especially in the category of children between 15-18 years of age - 33.33%. Among
the high-school students the computer are very popular as an extracurricular activity.
The children from the elementary school show frequent attendance of folklore
dances groups - 17%, as well as different courses - 23.4%.
Even though attendance of religious lecture was offered as an option, there
were no children and young people who attend this type of activities.
Graph 2 Participation in extracurricular activities according to the age
The question about the characteristics of the friends of the children and the
young people offered 6 categories of answers that can be grouped into two: well
behaved and with problematic behaviour, that includes: problematic, problematic and
good, don’t know, other and has no friends.
According to the obtained answers from the parents, it can be stated that in
60% of the cases of examined children they have well behaved friends, and 40% of
them have friends with a problematic behaviour. The fact that the parents know that
their children are friends with some children and young people with problematic
behaviour, leads us to the finding that the parents are familiar with the negative
influence on their children by their friends.
There are differences regarding the gender of the children. 52.52% of the
children and young people who are males and 61.89% of those who are females have
friends that are well behaved children, 47.48% of the children and young people who
are males and 30.19% of those who are females have friends with problematic
behaviour. This leads to the conclusion that the female children in most cases choose
friends who are well behaved and a lot less of those who have problematic behaviour,
compared to the male children.
30
Graph 3 Characteristics of the friends
When asked whether the family has faced problems in the last 6 months, most
of the examined families of the children at risk answered that they have faced certain
problems, more precisely, 152 of them. 52 of those families have faced death of a
close person in the family, and 20 families have gone through a divorce. It can be
taken into consideration that all of this has had a strong influence upon the
relationships in the family and the completion of the family functions, as well as upon
the development of the children.
The question about the presence of problems within the families of the
children at risk offered four possible problems: chronic diseases, mental illnesses,
physical and mental handicap. In most families, 145 of them, there are no such
problems. In 32 families there is a handicapped member, 15 of them are with physical
and 17 of them are with a mental handicap, and in 8 of the families there is a member
who has a mental illness.
Having in mind that the fundamental conditions for the development of the
children are growing up in a family with good family relations, where there is
understanding, sharing the responsibilities etc, when asking the question about the
spousal relations, four options were offered, divided into two groups: good (good,
sometimes conflictive) and conflictive (cold, constantly conflictive).
149 of the parents of children at risk have characterized their spousal relations
as good, and 96 of them have characterized theirs as bad. The possibility of a risk is
31
certainly greater if there is another one of the assumed risks present in the family of
the children at risk.
For the question about the styles of educating the children at risk, three
possible answers were offered: autocratic, democratic and laissez faire.
Most of the parents of the children at risk have answered that they educate
their children in a democratic style, whereas the number of those who practice the
autocratic and the laissez faire style is almost identical, autocratic 42, laissez faire 45
parents.
Regarding the differences in the educational influence, there were two cases
being considered: differences between the parents and differences between a parent
and another family member. The question about the differences in the educational
influence between the parents of the children at risk was not answered by 143 parents,
and 62 parents answered that they do differ in the education of the child.
There are a lot less difference between the parent and another member of the
family. 133 parents answered that there are no differences, and 20 parents of the
children at risk answered that there are.
The question about having information on the child is related to information
about its friends, its way of spending the allowance, whereabouts after the classes at
school, going out at night and activities in the leisure time. Five options were offered
as answers and we grouped them into two: knows (I know everything and I know) and
does not know (I know a little, I don’t know, No answer).
115 parents of the children at risk answered that they do know their children’s
friends, and 130 of them answered that they do not know.
As far as the ways of spending the allowance is concerned, 106 parents of the
children at risk know how it is spent, and 139 do not know this.
104 parents know the whereabouts of the child after the classes at school,
while 141 parents do not know this.
100 parents answered that they know where their child goes out at nigh, and
145 of them answered that they do not know.
Regarding the leisure time activities, 106 parents answered that they know
what they are, and 139 parents answered that they do not know.
It can be noted that the majority of the parents do not have enough
information on their children, compared to those who have stated that they know
everything about their children.
32
The following question is related to the estimation given by the parent about
the kind of problem of the child. Five options are offered:
A - impudence, aggressiveness, lying, school problems, loneliness;
A1 - impudence, aggressiveness, lying, school problems, negative relations
with friends;
B - begging, running away from home, smoking, drinking, drug abuse,
loneliness;
B/2 - begging, running away from home, smoking, drinking, drug abuse,
negative relations with friends.
C - stealing, robberies, rapes.
The obtained data shows that the most frequent problems are the ones
categorized in A and A/1. Differences have been determined in terms of the presence
of the sexes regarding certain problems. Among the female children, in 66.67% of the
cases there are problems like lying, school problems, aggressiveness, but it is mainly
true for lonely individuals, which is different from the case with the male children
among which these problems are accompanied by creating a lot of negative
friendships. Further more, problems of different deviant occurrences, such as
robberies, stealing and raping, have been detected among the male children to a much
greater extent - 28.85%.
Graph 4 Problems in the behaviour and the genders
Considering the fact that the research has been based on the actual estimation
of the parents of children and young people at risk, we can state that the subjective
evaluations of the parents, regarding the presence of problems in the behaviour of
their children, have not been overcome, which leads to the probability that there is a
greater presence of problems in the behaviour of the children at risk.
33
The type of risk compared to the problem in the behaviour of the children and
the young people shows the following result:
The majority of the children with problems in the behaviour - 28.57%, belong
to the category of “juveniles who are criminally irresponsible.” In 80% of
these cases the problems are stealing and robberies.
The children coming from “families with a low life standard,” as well as those
who are “juveniles with asocial behaviour,” encompass, each, 17.14% of the
total number of children at risk with problems in their behaviour. The most
frequent problems are types A and A/1.
12.85% of the children with problems in their behavioural are “juveniles living
with one parent,” among who the problems of types A and A/1 are most
frequent.
A part of the children with problems - 7.14%, come from “families with
disturbed family relations.”
A smaller portion of the juveniles, who have also demonstrated behavioural
problems are “children deprived of the parental care” and “children with
development disability,” 4.28% each.
Children coming from “families who have filed for divorce” and “children
who live with parents with impaired health” demonstrate behavioural
problems of different types, to a smaller extent - 2.85% of each category.
The least number of children who have behavioural problems, 1.43% each,
come from the categories “children living without parents” and “children that
have no parental care.”
“The change of the place of residence” is a risk in the occurrence of
behavioural problems, but there has not been any data obtained in order to
confirm this assumption, most probably because of the small percentage of
children coming from this category within the sample of the research.
Having in mind the significance of the friends-peers groups for the
development of the children and the young people, realized through mutual visits, a
question about the visits by the friends was asked. There are four options offered,
which can be grouped into two: they visit each other (yes regularly, yes often, yes
very often and other) and they do not visit each other.
The total number of the children and young people included in the research is
245, out of which 76.33% visit each other.
34
23.67% of the children and young people do not visit each other, and the
majority of them are at the age between 7-14, or more precisely 34 children of which:
18 are female children and 16 are male children.
In terms of the gender, there are small differences observed between the
children and young people who are male and those who are female. This can be seen
from the following:
Graph 5 Visits of friends according to the gender of the children.
It can be stated that a great number of the children and the young people are
visiting each other regularly with their friends, which makes their mutual influence an
important factor for the development of the young person.
The existence of cooperation between the parents of the children at risk and
the school is a question with several categories of answer offered. The obtained data
points out the following:
In the majority of the cases there is some form of cooperation between the
parents and the school. This is particularly emphasized within the elementary
education with a realized cooperation in 63% of the cases. The regular cooperation of
the parents with the educational institution decreases in the case of high school
education to 37.77%.
The non-existence of cooperation, either irregular (only if a previous invitation
has been given) or no cooperation at all, is more frequently observed in the secondary
education.
35
Graph 6 Cooperation between the parents and the school and the age.
The question about the received services from the Public Institution Inter-
municipal Centre of Social Work offers 12 options and a possibility to add a new one.
The social financial help is realized by persons who are capable of work, but
socially not insured. Among the examined population of families of children at risk,
130 families realize social financial help, out of which 72 are male children and 58 are
female children. Regarding the age group of the children, the majority of the children,
i.e. 85 children, are at the age between 7 and 14.
Permanent financial help as a right is exercised by those families that have
members who are incapable to work and socially are not insured. Within the
examined population, 21 families of children at risk have permanent financial help,
out of which 14 are families of male children and 7 are families of female children.
One-time financial help as a support in an extremely difficult situation has
been realized by 41 families of children at risk. 22 of those are families of male
children, and 19 are families of female children.
Help in kind has been received by 19 families of the children at risk.
84 families of the children at risk have received advisory services, most of
them within the group of children between 7 and 14 years of age, with 30 male
children and 18 female children.
One family received a stay of one of the member in a Day centre.
Four children at risk have been placed in the Social institution.
One child has received a supplement for education.
Documents for treatments in a health institution have been provided for 19
families.
36
Eight children have been placed in foster homes, because of the inability to
create conditions in the natural family of the children.
In terms of the number of received services, the families of children at the age
between 7 and 14 have received more than one service.
Graph 7 Received services from the Macedonian centre for social work.
The following data is also related to the health aspect, by considering the visits
to the doctor. The responses have been categorized into several groups: regular visits,
both regular and irregular, sometimes, never and other.
The comparison by age categories such as preschool children, school children
and young people, does not show any significant difference between these groups.
Among all of the categories, the regularity of the visits to a doctor is in more than
70% of the cases, and on the other hand the percentage of the children who have
never visited a doctor is very low, under 3%.
37
Graph 8 Visits to a doctor according to the age
The families encompassed by the research have also provided data on the
source of help and support that they receive. The neighbours, the friends and cousins
as part of the social network, were offered as possible sources in the answer of the
questions, as well as the religious communities and the institutions.
The gathered data shows that a small portion of the families receives help
and support, which on the other most of the time is offered by the cousins and the
friends. Regarding the institutions, the data shows that they offer only temporary help,
and very often there is a lack of it. The religious communities also do not offer help
and support to the families.
Graph 9 Sources of help and support
38
4. Institutions of social protection of the children at risk
4.1 Centre of social work
Jurisdiction and functions
The Centre of Social Work is the central institution in the field of social
protection.
In the Republic of Macedonia there are 27 centres of social work, which cover
the whole territory, with a local jurisdiction. According to the Law on social
protection, Law on family, and the criminal law regulations, in the centres of social
work certain rights and services are provided to the citizens, families and those
groups of the population that are exposed to social risk.
The centre in its operating integrates the public authorizations and the
professional social work.
In regard to the range of the public authorizations, the centre applies the
provisions of the Law on general administrative procedure, and the court protection is
achieved through the possibility of initiating an administrative dispute, before the
Supreme Court.
Beneficiaries
In a normative sense, the particular conditions when the citizens are in a need
of help of the social protection system, the Law defines as:
Health risks,
Risks of aging,
Risks on maternity and family,
Risks from unemployment and professional inability to adapt,
Risks from not adjusting to the social environment.
When determining the social risk, it is being paid attention primarily to the
social aspects.
The states they can most frequently encounter can be defined as problems of:
Children without parents and parental care,
Abused and neglected children,
Children with educational problems,
39
Educationally neglected,
Children who are drug users,
Children coming from families that have marital and family conflicts,
Children with disabilities,
Children coming from poor families.
As far as the registering, the documentation and the statistical monitoring of
these groups are concerned, it should be noted that there is no statistical classification,
registering and new definitions of the current problems today (street children, family
violence victims, children drug users etc.). The centres lack contemporary
standardized forms, data base creation and their computer processing. According to
the existing register, the centres work with an average of 18 656 children annually,
1031 of who are children without parents and parental care, 7880 children have
educational problems, educationally neglected are 3378 of them, 5897 children have a
disability, and 470 children have other problems. According to the research carried
out by the Bureau of social activities in 2003, 63 children who are abusing drugs, 377
family violence victims and 465 street juveniles have been registered within the
centres of social work.
Apart from this, the centres work with around 44383 adults with whom in the
treatment, to some extent, the problems of their children are also included.
The range of work has increased with a large number of financial aid for
65000 beneficiaries of social financial help, around 19000 beneficiaries of care and
help from another person, a financial supplement for the families whose sustainers are
in the Army of the Republic of Macedonia (70), civil invalids (423).
From the analysis of the data, it can be noticed that there is a significant
participation of the beneficiaries of financial help. This engages the work of the
Centre to a great extent and therefore reduces the serving of the beneficiaries of the
other services.
Services
The services are aimed towards an individual, a family, a group of population.
The centres of social work provide a wide range of services that can be grouped in
many areas and levels:
40
Social prevention - takes measures to prevent the occurrence of a social risk
for the citizen, the family or groups of population, through educational-
advisory work, developing forms of self-help, voluntary work;
Extra institutional protection - points out the possible solutions to a problem,
provides counselling or advisory help, domestic care and help, day fostering,
placement in a foster family,
Institutional protection,
The right to financial help.
The procedure to realize a right or a service from the social protection begins
upon a request of the person who is in of a need, upon an official duty or upon a
request of a parent, legal guardian, any citizen, institution or an organization. Article
84 from the Law on family is a provision that regulates the moral responsibility of the
citizens to report a case of an endangerment of a child, which in practice is very
seldom realized. The reporting is mainly based on the request of the person who is in
a situation of a social risk, close relatives or upon a report of officials of authorized
institutions: the national attorney, the court, the Public Prosecutor, the Ministry of
Internal Affairs, the school, NGO.
The Centre of Social Work when completing its tasks identifies and analyzes
the situation, and applies appropriate measures and services of social protection.
In regard to the children, the most frequent services are: putting the children
under guardianship, placing in an institution, in a day centre, placing in a foster
family, adoption, counselling work with parents and children in marital and family
conflicts, committing the children upon a procedure before, during and after a
divorce, executing discipline measures and measures of enforced monitoring,
directing the children to institutions, their monitoring, acceptance and inclusion in the
community, financial help, etc.
There is a lack of services that are related to treating certain population groups
of children (street children, children drug abusers, children victims of family
violence). Having in mind the needs of treatment, political and legal incentives have
been initiated in order to increase the number of services aimed towards these
population groups of children.
Forms and contents of the work with children at risk
41
When considering the children at risk, according to the current legal solutions,
the possible forms of protection being used are: for children without parents and
parental care, in most cases, guardianship, then placing in foster families, adoption or
placement in an institution.
The legal changes initiated by the Ministry of labour and social policy in the
Law on family and the Law on social protection should provide a more effective
protection of the children, through these forms of care.
It has been showed that in the group of children put under guardianship and
those placed in the homes of their relatives (in most cases at their grandparents’)
greater help is asked in the overcoming of the developmental problems of the children
as well as the process of their education.
The form of placement in foster families is especially used as an instrument in
reducing the institutional placement, and therefore, in the last few years, great
attention has been paid to creating conditions for increasing the number of foster
families. At the moment, the most of the children that have been placed are those
without parents and parental care and children with a handicap. The foster families
are concentrated in several towns (Skopje, Prilep, Makedonski Brod and the village of
Manastirec, Kocani), which additionally creates problems for the centres of social
work in those locations, because of the larger amount of work which has not been
followed by the needed professional and material resources. Until now, there has not
been sufficient work with the issue of guiding the families, i.e. their specialization for
accepting children with a certain problem, for example an abused child, a child with
educational-social problems or children who are educationally neglected.
One of the most complex problems in the centres of social work is the legal
family protection of the children who live in disturbed marital and family relations
and parents living separated (before a divorce, in the time of a divorce and
afterwards), during a procedure for reconciliation, a suggestion of an opinion about
putting children under care, settling the relations between the parents). From the
Centre’s point of view, the work is formally completed by an interdisciplinary and
team approach in providing counselling psychological-social and therapeutic services
to the parents/adults. However, it has been observed that the centres do not work
sufficiently on the issue of traumatization of the children and the emotional problems
that occur in their relations with the members of the family. In order to improve the
42
treatment in this field, changes and amendments to the Law on family have already
been suggested and are undergoing the procedure of being passed.
Certain group of children with educational problems or neglected and abused
children occurs in those cases when the parents either wrongly perform or make
omissions in exercising their parental right. In all the cases the Centre needs to act on
the basis of the institute for Monitoring of the exercising the parental right.
A special form of a crime act is the exposal of children to exploitation,
prostitutions, begging and other socially deviant occurrences. In this case, the Centre
should file charges against the executer of these deeds.
In such situations, the Centre encounters many procedural problems. It
encounters both its own inefficiency, as well as the inefficiency of the different
systems (police force, Public Prosecutor, court, institutions). If the parent is
neglecting the child during a longer period of time or abusing the child by making the
child beg, often after a longer court procedure the parent is found not guilty and then
the previous activities continue to take place. The centres very rarely suggest
depriving the parents of their parental rights, and the courts even more rarely reach
the verdict to execute this measure. In this way, the centres of social work are being
discouraged in their performance, and the problem continues to move in a vicious
circle, the children and their rights continue to be violated, and the irresponsible
parents are encouraged to continue doing the same, or even worse, activities.
Whenever the children come into conflict with the norms of the Law of torts
and the criminal law, i.e. the children have a disturbed behaviour, our Penal statute’s
starting point is that the children are in a developmental period, and therefore the
children with a disturbed behaviour are considered as children that are in particularly
difficult circumstances or are in a state of social risk, and the children that are
younger than 14 years of age are considered as criminally unaccountable. In the cases
when the Public Prosecutor dismisses the criminal charges and points to the Centre of
Social Work to continue working with the children, because of the long duration of
the procedure, it happens that the Centre either starts working with a delay or fails to
work with the child, the parents and the community.
It is evident that the Centre does not work enough with the parents, does not
work continuously, nor has special programmes for their treatment and training at its
disposal.
43
Furthermore, there is a lack of sufficiently clear handling procedures in many
institutions (the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Centre of Social Work, the institution
for social protection/shelter, the Public Prosecutor, the court), which creates
interruptions in the chain of solving this problem. In addition, there are not enough
local resources, equally for the whole territory for the republic of Macedonia, to
provide an immediate shelter for children.
An evident and worrying problem in our country is the drug addiction, i.e. the
drug abuse. The number of drug users increases from year to year and there is a real
epidemic of drug addiction, with drug addicts having different kinds of criminal
behaviour. What is exceptionally worrying is the fact that the age limit of the drug
addicts is decreasing and there have been children of 13 years of age registered as
drug users. The activities of the Centre in this field is reduced to providing
information, counselling services and giving financial help, which is not enough in
relation to the complexity of the problem. The health institutions are only concerned
with the treatment, and the educational institutions with the sporadic programmes
related to these issues. The police force treats the problem at the time when the
juvenile commits an act of crime. There is no link in the acting of these actors on a
local or a national level.
The families with one parent in most cases are recruited from the divorced
marriages. The single mothers with children of up to three years of age, the mothers
whose spouses are working abroad and abandoned the family, as well as the parent
whose spouse has deceased, are also a subject to the work of the Centre of Social
Work. In this heterogeneous group of parents with children, there are mostly
beneficiaries of social welfare.
The group of children with special needs is very heterogeneous, and the needs
of the children are conditioned by their age, the type and the degree of the disability.
In the last few years there have been many projects intended for improving their
status, especially for their inclusion and integration. These activities need to be
supported and carried out continuously, through an inter-sectoral and inter-
institutional cooperation.
Children at risk are also the children who come from poor families whose
parents are unemployed, or if they are employed they do not receive their salaries on
time, families with a larger number of members, families with persons who have a
chronic disease or a disability, agricultural families from poor, rural environments.
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The children are not the direct beneficiaries of the financial help given to the family
by the state, but are considered as co-users of the help. Because of a lack of material
resources, the children coming from poor families find themselves in an unfavourable
condition in satisfying their existential needs. Furthermore, this leads to their social
exclusion, i.e. to their inappropriate social participation and lack of integration in the
social community. There have been certain actions taken by the state institutions, the
humanitarian organizations and the nongovernmental organizations to help the
children from poor families, but these are not part of a strategy that would provide
more long-term effects in alleviating the poverty and its consequences.
Personnel and organization of the work
The basic requirement for any Centre of Social Work is to have at least one
professional nucleus, or in other words, a team comprised of a social worker, a
psychologist, a pedagogue, a lawyer. Apart from that, the number of certain profiles
should be increased in relation to the number of inhabitants in the municipality and
the number of social cases.
The 27 centres, located in 30 municipalities employ about 500 people; 184
social workers, 43 psychologists, 35 pedagogues, 53 lawyers, 2 special education
teachers, 14 sociologists and about 15 other professional employees and 143 people
of the administrative personnel. These employees provide various services through
methods of social, psychological, pedagogical, legal and other professional work to
all the citizens, and cover the whole territory of the Republic.
Because of the increased amount of work, especially in the field of social
welfare, on one hand, and the permanent limitations for new employments of the
budget users on the other, in the last few years the centres come across a serious lack
of professional personnel, which also limits their capacity and efficiency in the
realization of the numerous functions, including those which are in the interest of the
children.
The data shows that only 18 centres have complete professional teams. In 12
centres, according to the existing norms, there is a lack of pedagogues, psychologists,
lawyers. Because of the size of the municipality, the complexity and the large number
of cases, the larger centres of social work (Skopje, Tetovo, Kumanovo, Gostivar, and
Strumica) are also in a need of more social workers and other types of professional
profiles.
45
The current internal organization of the social work is achieved by combining
the territorial and the categorical approach, in such way that the social workers work
with smaller, local communities about any of the problems, and the other professional
workers (psychologist, pedagogue, and lawyer) are included in certain phases during
the work with the case.
Given all that, the interdisciplinary team approach is being realized only in
few centres of social work. This causes that the centres do not assess the real needs of
the children sufficiently, as well as the capability and the opportunity of the parents to
raise their children, to take complex measures of social and legal family protection.
Furthermore, the phase of monitoring the condition and the evaluation of the applied
measures and services is being neglected.
Moreover, there is an insufficient differentiation of the activities between the
separate professions, in the cases when, apart from the methods of social work, there
is also a need of applying methods of other disciplines (psychologists, pedagogues,
lawyers).
In the last few years a large number of training programmes for the personnel
in the centres of social work and the institutions for social protection have been
carried out. However, the acquired knowledge is not applied adequately and these
programmes are not obligatory. The inappropriate organization of the work in the
centres also contributes to this issue.
In the realization of the financial help, especially in the phase of insight and
control of the beneficiaries, all of the employees are involved, form every department.
This negatively affects the dynamics and the quality of the work of the separate
professional workers in the centre.
Institutional fostering of the children at risk
According to the Law on social protection, in the Republic of Macedonia, the
institutions for social protection are established as public and private institutions. In
the field of providing care for the children, the Government has determined a
minimum of public institutions that is supposed to satisfy the needs of the children
without parents and parental care (2); children with educational problems and
juvenile delinquents (2); children with special needs (3). The first private institution
for children without parents and parental care was established by the International
association Children’s SOS village.
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The Centre of Social Work can place a certain person in any of these
institutions, either upon a submitted request of an interested person or based on
personal activities.
In a formal sense, the placement is carried out by reaching a decision on the
basis of the Law on social protection and the Law on general administrative
procedure.
4.2.1 Public Institution Home for infants and young children - Bitola
Jurisdiction and functions
The home for infants and young children for children without parents and
parental care up to three years of age provides fostering (home, food, clothing, care)
until providing conditions or placement in a home or another form of care. In this
institution, temporary placement and a stay for a single, unemployed pregnant
woman, one month before her due date and for a single parent to up to three months
of age of the child, is also provided.
Category and structure of beneficiaries
The home for infants and young children has a capacity for 100 children and
25 mothers. On a monthly average, there are about 90 children and two to three
mother in the institution. During a year, about 200 children stay in the home. This is
due to the fact that the majority of the children, on an average, stay in the Home from
three to six months, and afterwards they are fostered using another form of protection.
More than a half of the children are illegitimate, and the rest of them come from
families in which the parents, because of different circumstances, have abandoned the
care for their children.
The home fosters healthy children as well as children with special needs.
Organization of the work
Within the work of the Home, because of the age of the children, the care and
the health protection dominate. The developmental needs of the children are satisfied
through programmes for stimulating and monitoring the development of the infants
and the young children. In 1996 the Partridge programme was introduced, according
to which the organization of the work included:
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Baby groups that encompass infants from their birth to six months of age, with
contents of work intended to acquire the early skills of movement;
Family groups of children between six months and three years of age, which
include working on stimulation of the young children, motor movement,
speech development, development of skills for self-help, socialization and
cognitive development.
According to this programme, a so-called key worker from the personnel that
provides the care is responsible for the development of the children - one worker for
three to four children. His work is monitored and supported by a professional team of
a doctor, a psychologist and a pedagogue.
For the children between the ages of 2-3 there is also a teacher who works
according to the Programme for preschool education, adapted to the needs of this
institution. There are different cultural and entertainment activities organized for the
children.
Personnel
There are 50 employees in the Home for infants and young children - Bitola.
In regard to the professional personnel, it has all of the needed profiles: one social
worker, one psychologist, two doctors, one teacher, two lawyers, 28 carers and 14
people as administrative staff.
The number of the employees and the type of the profile of the staff satisfies
the needs of this institution in the completion of its basic functions.
The employees are trained well and they apply many programmes aimed at
the developmental needs of the children. The institution is open to the medical high
school in Bitola, whose students, during their practical work, help in the work of the
nurses.
4.2.2 PI Children’s home “11 Oktomvri” - Skopje
Jurisdiction and functions
The institution Children’s home “11 Oktomvri” is an institution for placement
of children and young people without parents and parental care, that provides
fostering (home, food, clothing, health care) for the children until providing
conditions for their return in the family, or until enabling them for a independent life
48
and work, with a maximum stay of up to 6 months upon graduating from high school.
The institution provides attendance of elementary and secondary education,
organizing professional help in overcoming the educational curricula. Furthermore, it
provides different forms of work and life of the children during the whole period of
their stay in the Home.
Category and structure of the beneficiaries
This institution has a capacity for 144 children, with 104 children being places
on an annual average.
The institution fosters children between 3 and 18 years of age, but in the year
of 2003, 23 children who had already turned 18 were staying at the Home. 14 of them
have completed secondary education, two of them are students, and 7 of them are in
the process of completing their secondary education. In regard to this problem, it is
noticed that all of the children who come from different parts of Macedonia stay in
Skopje. This complicates the solution of the employment issue as well as the
permanent residence issue.
Most of the children stay in the institution from 4 to 6 years, and only few
children have a stay in the institution of over 15 years.
According to the family status, 20 children have no parents, 35 of them have a
mother only, and 16 only have a father, 15 children have divorced parents, and 44 of
them have two parents.
Regarding to their health condition, 13 of the children have a light mental
disability.
This structure provides the observation that the largest percentage of the
children come from dysfunctional families, in which either one or both of the parents
are not able to take care of their children. This increases the responsibility of the
Centre of Social Work and the institution to invest greater efforts during the stay of
these children, so that they take care of their family relations and to provide an
opportunity for them to return to the family and integrate in the community.
Organization of the work
In regard to the organization of the life of the children in the home, the current
organization is based on the principle of an educational group, with a heterogeneous
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composition of the children in terms of age and gender, comprised of 13 to 15
children. A teacher is responsible for the educational group.
There is an influence on the socialization, the education and the acquiring of
abilities of an independent life, which is achieved through programmes for cultural
and hygiene habits, working habits, organizing the leisure time through participation
in workshops for learning foreign languages, or computers, participation in folklore
groups etc.
Through these programmes and other projects the children are included in the
community. This is also helped by a large number of NGO.
A right to a contact with the family, close relatives or friends is fully given
and there are no limitations. In regard to the personnel, the children have established
their own relations and feel free to talk to them about their problems.
Personnel
There are 33 people, in total, employed in the institution - 13 teachers, one
social worker, one psychologist, one pedagogue, one lawyer. Every one of them is
involved in fulfilling the function of providing professional help in the fostering and
raising the children.
Having in mind the difficult past that the children come to the institution with,
the duration of the institutional care which creates and leaves consequences on its
own, the work of the employees in this institution is assessed as difficult and
complex. The staff possesses good competencies and training. The education during
the work needs to be continued further on and to be obligatory, in order to follow the
contemporary professional and scientific achievements in this field.
4.2.3 Public institution for fostering children with educational-social
problems - Skopje
Jurisdiction and functions
This institution fosters children with educational-social problems, at the ages
between 7 and 18 or until graduating from high school. The main objective is
acceptance and short-term fostering of juveniles, their observation and diagnostics,
continued placement but not more than three years and education. The institution
provides correctional treatment, depending on the needs of the children.
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Category and structure of beneficiaries
The institution for fostering children with educational-social problems has the
capacity for placing 90 juveniles - 70 juveniles with educational-social problems, 10
minuvaci and 10 juveniles for execution of the measure referring to a disciplinary
centre.
Fifty three juveniles were placed in 2003. The age of the children is between 9
and 18 years. Four persons at the ages between 18 and 21 are children that are
completing their education.
In regard to the family status 8 children are without parents, 12 of them have a
mother only, 5 children have a father only, 21 children have divorced parents, and 6
of them have both parents. The most common reason for placement is children
coming from dysfunctional families without signs of deviant behaviour (22 children)
and the other children have come with some signs of deviant behaviour (roaming
around, loafing, running away from home).
In regard to the health status, 11 children have a light mental disability. 31
children are in elementary school and 18 children are in schools for secondary
education. 42 children come from their biological families, 6 children come from
foster families and 4 children come from the Children’s home “11 Oktomvri.”
The department minuvaci does not function in the needed way because of the
inappropriate space (presence of displaced persons and shelter for victims of family
violence). It is not in the function of the disciplinary centre, for which the centres do
not make suggestions and the court does not pronounce a measure.
Organization of the work
The organization in this institution is based on the principle of an educational
group, or more precisely one educational group in the phase of observation and four
educational groups for re-socialisation.
In the observation phase the children are observed in their behaviour, the
personality and the behaviour of the juvenile are evaluated, as well as the manner of
adaptation. In the phase of treatment their inclusion in the education is continued and
a correctional treatment is being executed. For that purpose, the programme contents
for work with children encompass education for developing working habits,
intellectual, socially-moral, aesthetical, physical and health education, formation of
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hygiene habits, speech and language development, and free choice activities. In
cooperation with the NGO, a large number of contents for acquiring skills, that make
their socialization and integration in the social environment easier, have also been
included.
Personnel
There are 24 employees working in this institution, 13 of them are
professional workers (one social worker, one pedagogue, one psychologist, ten
educators) and 8 people comprise the administration staff.
The personnel are in accordance with the basic activities of the institution. In
the case of a correct set up of the function ‘department for minuvaci’ and the usage of
the space for executing the measure ‘referring to a disciplinary centre,’ a norm for
appropriately equipping the institution with staff should be additionally determined.
The professionals are included in training programmes, but this ought to be
based on the principle of continuous education and obligation.
4.2.4 PI Bureau for fostering and education of children and young people
“Ranka Milanovic” - Skopje
Jurisdiction and functions
The bureau for fostering and education is an institution that fosters children
with a disturbed behaviour at the ages between 10 and 18 years. This institution
executes the educational measure ‘referring to an educational institution’ for juveniles
who have committed a crime act, according to the regulations of execution of
sanctions. Moreover, this institution fosters children with a disturbed behaviour that
have been referred by the Centre of Social Work, according to the Law on family.
Apart from the care and the nourishment, the institution also provides
elementary education which is realized in the school that is functioning within this
institution.
Category and structure of the beneficiaries
The capacity of this institution is 75 juveniles, with an average use of 30
children per year.
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In the period of conducting the research, there were 26 children placed, 8 of
them were juveniles who had been referred to an educational institution. All of the
children are males, between 10 and 19 years of age.
In terms of the family status, 18 children come from incomplete families and 8
children have both parents. In regard to the health status, two juveniles have a light
mental disability.
In the last few years, the centres of social work have requested that female
children are also placed in this institution, both in terms of fostering them and in
terms of execution of the measure ‘referring to an educational institution.’ There are
no legal hindrances to realize this in practice.
The duration of the placement is 3-4 years, but there are cases that have stayed
in the institution for 6-12 years, which speaks about a long period of
institutionalization of the children.
Organization of the work
The organization of the work with the children is based on the principle of
educational groups, and the level of education of the children is used as a criterion.
In the work programmes, the contents that are being carried out are: education
on forming working habits, intellectual, socially-moral, aesthetical, physical and
health education, leisure time and free-choice activities of the children. There are
contents about a working engagement of the children in a factory for production of
mushrooms, in the arrangement of the yard, participation in sports and cultural
events, training for operating with computers.
Personnel
There are 28 people employed in this institution; 15 people are professional
workers (one social worker, one psychologist, one pedagogue, one lawyer, four
educators, six teachers for elementary education and one carer).
The structure of the employees corresponds to the needs of the institution. The
professional workers and the other personnel were involved in more training
programmes. The need to make this process continuous and obligatory remains.
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4.3 Institutions for children with special needs
The children with special needs are children who have a sensory, physical or
intellectual disability and in order to satisfy their socio-cultural needs they use
institutional protection, as a last resort measure.
4.3.1 Bureau for rehabilitation of children and young people in Skopje
This is an institution for placement of children and young people with
moderate and severe disabilities in the psychological development, which fosters
children between 6 and 18 years of age, from the whole country.
This institution provides observation, rehabilitation-correctional treatment,
education, enabling for a working-productive activity, accommodation and health
protection.
It has a capacity of 130 beneficiaries, which has been filled; 85 of them are
placed in a boarding school and 53 are citizens of Skopje. The institution employs 50
people - 16 special education teachers, one psychologist, one social worker, 8
instructors, 2 educators, 4 carers, one doctor, 2 medical nurses and 15 people who are
part of the administration staff.
The organization of the work matches the age and the extent of the intellectual
disability, and therefore there is a department for education in which certain
knowledge and social skills are obtained, a department for work engagement in which
the young people acquire working skills (in processing wood, work in an auto repair
shop, agricultural work, household skills, etc).
Within the institution, for the needs of the city of Skopje, there is also a day
centre for children and a day centre for adults.
4.3.2 Special bureau in Demir Kapija
This is an institution for permanent placement for children and adults with
severe and most severe disabilities in the psychological development.
This institution provides fostering, rehabilitation and health protection. There
is a total of 380 beneficiaries placed, 74 of them are children below 18 years of age
and 306 persons of over 18 years of age. What makes this institution complex is the
fact that a large number of the beneficiaries are immobile or semi mobile, who also
54
suffer from numerous diseases. The institutionalization is very long, which can be
concluded from the fact that more than a half of the beneficiaries have been in the
institution for over 15 years.
Apart from the care and the health protection which are dominant activities in
this institution, there are also other programmes applied, that are aimed at acquiring
social skills and abilities to work for the adults with a severe mental disability.
There 136 people employed - one doctor, 2 social workers, 5 special education
teachers, 12 medical nurses, one physiotherapist, 6 educators, 86 carers, 11 instructors
and administrative staff. A true problem in this institution is the fact that a large
percentage of the care giving staff is not qualified for the specific treatment and needs
of the beneficiaries in this institution, as well as their insufficiently defined role in the
treatment of the beneficiaries.
The process of deinstitutionalization, supported by the professional and
financial help of the UNICEF office, was first started in this institution. A certain
number of children were included in special programmes for socialization and their
preparation to return to their families or foster families as an alternative institutional
protection. With the help of this programme, about 20 children with a moderate and
severe mental disability are already out of the Special bureau.
4.3.3 Bureau for protection and rehabilitation - Banja Bansko
This is an institution for placement of children and young people with a
physical disability. This institution provides fostering (home, nourishment and care)
until achieving the capabilities for independent life and work, and also provides
health care. Elementary and secondary education is provided for the children. It also
provides the needed professional help for their understanding the educational
curriculum and organizes different forms of life and work.
There are 65 beneficiaries in the institution, coming from the whole country.
Fifteen beneficiaries are children below 18 years of age. Of the total number of
beneficiaries, 50 have a physical disability only, and 13 have also a mental disability.
Half of the beneficiaries are people who either fully or partially depend on the help of
another person. The long institutionalization is typical for the beneficiaries.
55
The institution employs 40 people - one special education teacher, one
sociologist, one lawyer, one orthopaedist-prosthetist, one medical nurse, 2
physiotherapists, one masseur, 10 carers, 8 teachers and administrative staff.
Apart from the regular education, the institution also organizes various
educational, sports and other recreational activities, either as regular tasks of the
institution or through realization of project activities.
Within the organization of this institution the creation of ikebana, tapestries,
knitting, embroidering and wood carving are performed as regular work-occupational
activities.
Natasha Bogoevska
5. Police force and Public Prosecution Office in the protection of children
at risk
5.1 Police force
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia is a body of the
governmental administration, which is authorized to perform the following activities:
protection of the life, the personal security and the property of the people, protection
of the freedoms and rights of the man and the citizen guaranteed by the Constitution,
prevention of criminal acts, finding and catching the executors of criminal acts and
delivering them to the authorized bodies. The discovery of criminal acts is an activity
of the body of internal affairs which is aimed at determining the actual condition, the
material truth about a certain criminal act and the person who is the executor. In that
sense, the police force is specified as a repressive body, but it also acts preventively.
In regard to the prevention, the police operate in two directions: gathers information,
monitors the occurrences and the relations, the conditions that lead to execution of
criminal acts. The police force educates the citizens how to protect themselves from a
criminal activity, how not to become victims of such an act, and on the other hand, the
police force also undertakes more specific operational-preventive measures that are
supposed to prevent the execution of criminal acts and to provide a fast and efficient
discovery of the executor of the criminal act.
The fight against juvenile delinquency is complex and requires an on-time
action of all the subjects that take care of the social protection of the children. The
role of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the preventive work and stopping the crime
56
among the juveniles, results from the legal obligation stated in the Law on internal
affairs and the Book of regulations for execution of the activities of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs. The activities of the Ministry are performed according to a
previously prepared plan and programme with specific evaluations of the forms and
the extent of endangerment of the area with delinquent behaviours, as well as the
personal characteristics of the juvenile or the group of juveniles. Based on that, the
following is performed:
Corresponding reports and encouraging the bodies for guardianship to take
measures for removal of the causes of the delinquent behaviour, as well as
mutual cooperation of these bodies and the police;
Forming groups of representatives of the bodies for guardianship and the
professionals in the police force who would exchange data and information
about the possibilities and the ways of preventing the juvenile delinquency;
Discovery of the leaders of the juvenile, criminal groups and their separation
of the group and a further social and educational fostering.
The activities in the immediate prevention of the juvenile delinquency are
accomplished by a mobile presence of policemen in the most threatened and most
obvious locations, as well as by controlling the known juveniles-executors of criminal
acts by the authorized services of the criminal police who need to be specially trained
for stamping out the juvenile criminal.
The position of the children in the police procedure
When we talk about the authorizations of the police force in discovering the
criminal acts and their executors, this activity leads to an immediate connection with
the function and the nature of a state body. In fact, the corps of the penal pursuit, the
police force as a body for discovering the criminal acts and the juvenile executors of
criminal acts, the Public Prosecutors as authorized bodies of pursuit and accusation
and the courts as bodies for reaching verdicts, are repressive bodies that have the
authorization to act by applying repressive measures and means, when they handle the
procedure initiated because of a committed crime. However, the fact that we talk
about legal minors imposes the need of a privileged position of the juvenile within the
criminal procedure. This is also required by the Beijing Regulations that define the
term juvenile as a child or a young person who, according to the relative legal system,
can be treated differently than the adults, in regard to the committed act.
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Particularly significant are the place and the role of the police force with its
authorizations in the pre-criminal actions, which always implies a humane treatment
with the minor and taking measures that would be free of any repressive elements.
The authorized official while working with juveniles always has to have in mind the
basic principles of realization and respect of the children’s rights, determined in the
Convention on the rights of the child, adopted by the General Assembly of the United
Nations on November 20th 1989. The Republic of Macedonia has ratified the
Convention on the rights of the child in 1993 and with that it became a part of the
internal law order. These postulates-guides which should be followed when
undertaking any kind of measures towards the minor are: non-discrimination of the
child, respecting the best of interest for the child, the right to life, survival and
development, as well as respecting the opinions of the child. It should be always taken
into consideration that the measures undertaken towards the children ought to be for
their protection, force should never be applied and the children should never be
exposed to any kind of physical or psychological torture.
A special procedure is anticipated for the juvenile delinquents and it is
particularly important to respect the legal regulations. The children who have not
turned 14 are not criminally accountable, and therefore a person who is below the age
of 14 cannot be detained or temporary arrested, and if the child has been arrested
because its age has not been known or has voluntarily come to the police station, then
the child needs to be sent home right after the police has taken its personal
information. The authorized official, when establishing its contact with a minor, needs
to always take into consideration the child’s psycho-physical characteristics. The
starting point is the fact that the child is not a fully formed person, undergoing
through its development, who still has not reached its biological, somatic,
psychological and social maturity, and therefore it is not capable to understand the
meaning of its act. The contacts between the authorized official and the juvenile
delinquent need to be organized in such way that status of the minor would be
respected, his well-being will be improved and any possibility to cause damage would
be avoided and all of the circumstances in the case will be adequately treated,
according to the so called Beijing Regulations.
The parent or the guardian ought to have a special role in the police procedure
and must be informed about the undertaking of any measures by the police force
towards the minor-executor of a criminal act. Furthermore, the right of the child to
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participate in the decisions reached by the police has to be respected as well, i.e. it is
necessary that the opinion of the child is heard and attention is paid to its opinion. The
child has to be treated as a subject and not as an object during the whole procedure.
During the procedure carried out by the police all of the measures for the protection of
the child’s life need to be undertaken, considering the fact that the child, as any other
human being, has the right to life, security and safety. The child must not be exposed
to torture, inhumane and brutal behaviour, because any physical or psychological
maltreatment of the children is in fact abuse of the children that often has deep
consequences upon their further psycho-physical development. Special protection
needs to be given to the children who are in conflict with the law, using drugs or are
victims of the human trafficking and all the possible measures need to be undertaken
so that they are protected and are helped to return to their normal life.
Organization and way of work of the inspectors for juvenile delinquency
In the Republic of Macedonia, within the Ministry of Internal Affairs there are
34 inspectors for juvenile delinquency employed, 13 of who are males and 21 are
females. The data on the educational and gender structure, the length of service and
the attended trainings by the inspectors for juvenile delinquency is the following:
Table 1 Age structure in regard to the gender
EDUCATIONGENDER
Males FemalesPedagogue 1 2Faculty of pedagogy / 2Faculty of law 2 2Faculty of defence 6 11Social worker / 1Faculty of economics / 2Faculty of philology 1 1National Defence 3 /
TOTAL 13 21
Table 2 Educational structure in regard to the gender
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Table 3 Length of service as an inspector for juvenile delinquency and other job positions, within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in regard to the gender
JOB POSITIONLENGTH OF SERVICE
Up to 5 years 6-10 years 11-15 years Over 15 yearsM F M F M F M F
Inspector for juvenile delinquency 10 14 2 4 1 1 / 1
Other job position within the MIA 6 8 3 5 1 2 3 2
Table 4 Number of trainings in regard to the gender
NUMBER OF TRAININGSGENDER
Males Females0 3 31 6 32 1 73 2 04 1 25 0 1
Over 5 0 5
In order to obtain a complete insight in the work of the authorized officials in
the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the children who are executors of criminal acts,
but are criminally unaccountable (minors under the age of 14), interviews have been
conducted with the inspectors for juvenile delinquency in tri larger cities in the
Republic of Macedonia: Skopje, Veles and Tetovo. The main objective -
improvement of the position of the minor in the police procedure - cannot be
accomplished unless the problems they face when completing their job are also taken
into consideration.
In regard to the way of organizing the work, the authorized official within the
Ministry of Internal Affairs underline that there is no department for juvenile
delinquency, as a separately organized unit, but the work is being done in the
department for general crime. Having in mind that this organization of work imposes
on them realization of procedures in other cases, a special department for juvenile
GENDERAGE
26-35 years of age Over 36 yearsMales 3 10
Females 9 12TOTAL 12 22
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delinquency needs to be separated and needs to be managed by a professional in this
area. Within the regional units of the Ministry, depending on which unit is being
discussed, there are different problems arising - problems of organizational character,
lack of personnel, in terms of number and profiles, as well as lack of material
resources.
The authorized officials’ opinion is that there are standardized procedures that
need to be followed when working with minors, but that these are not sufficiently
respected. Furthermore, the need for a fast procedure to completely include all of the
institutions for monitoring and helping the juveniles has to be addressed. When
initiating a procedure a parent, who will be present at the hearing of the juvenile, and
the Centre of Social Work are always informed, as it is obligatory, but an additional
problem is the fact that the work of the Centre of Social Work is organized in one
shift. Given the fact that the inspectors are the ones establishing the first contact with
the children, the way of working with children is also imposed as an issue. Do the
children see in them persons that would help them or punish them, are the parents
cooperating with them? The answers obtained are confirmative and the need for
making the education for responsible parenthood obligatory is also emphasized.
The cooperation with the other institutions, which they are referred to in the
context of their work, especially the Centre of Social Work, has been assessed as
satisfactory, while the need for more flexible working hours of the Centre, again, has
been emphasized.
An issue that indeed deserves attention, considering the specificity of the work
and the category of people they work with, is the one addressing the education of the
authorized officials in the Ministry of Internal Affairs who work in the field of
juvenile delinquency. Every one of them underlines that they have attended a small
number of seminars about the rights of the children, with an educational character,
which are particularly significant for their work. This emphasizes the need for a
further, continuous education.
The statement that a Law on juveniles, which would encompass all of the
issues related to the juvenile delinquency as well as every aspect of their work, ought
to be passed is in fact a mutual statement.
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Conclusions and recommendations
Starting from the existing law regulation in the Republic of Macedonia, the
need to create a separate juvenile crime law appears to be a necessity, and in that
sense, the role of the police force as a body obligated to eliminate the juvenile
delinquency also needs to be redefined. The stress should be placed on the preventive
work, and the criminal tactic methods and procedures should be applied in a specific
way, respecting the personality of the minor. It would be desirable to bring into the
Ministry of Internal Affairs a special police official who would not be involved in the
police procedure, but would take care of the rights and interests of the child while the
child is in the police station. In that way, the rights of the child, determined by the
international regulations and standards, would be guaranteed.
In order to free the procedure from the elements of repression and retribution,
the involvement of the Centre of Social Work must be present at the very beginning,
which would ensure that the measures for re-socialization of the young person are
taken on time. The police should also cooperate with the schools, but the hearing can
be performed within the schools only in exceptional situations, by civil officials and
with a previous consent by the principal of the school.
In order to successfully complete their tasks, the authorized officials need to
have appropriate skills and experience, to be specially trained and qualified for the
work with juvenile delinquent, and special attention should be paid to the possibility
for forming separate units for juvenile delinquency.
Considering the fact that the juveniles under the age of 14, who are criminally
unaccountable, are the subject to analysis, the procedure stops when the Public
Prosecutor dismisses the criminal charges. The further treatment of these minors is in
the jurisdiction of the body for guardianship - the Centre of Social Work, which has at
its disposal a wide range of measures that can be taken in order to re-socialize and
rehabilitate the minor. The register of measures could be further broadened with other
suggestions and requirements directed towards the parents, the school and the other
institutions, so that the cause of the criminal behaviour of the child is removed. As a
controlling mechanism, in this case, it would be useful to bring in specially trained
police officials who would monitor the realization of the measures. Also, in the case
of an ascertained fault, they would inform the Public Prosecutor and, in such way,
take the procedure to the next step.
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The preventive police activity must be supplemented with activities of the
pedagogical and social organization, which would fully free the procedure of the
repressive elements and the process of socialization and treatment of the minor in the
social community, would immediately start.
5.2 Public Prosecution Office
In the constitution of the Republic of Macedonia the Public Prosecution Office
is defined as a sole and independent state body that prosecutes the executors of
criminal acts, as well as those of other acts that are by law determined as punishable
acts, and also performs other tasks determined by law. The Public Prosecution Office
performs its functions on the basis of and within the Constitution and the law. Given
the fact that the Constitution represents the highest law acts in which the
constitutional position of the Public Prosecution Office is only generally defined, its
organization, its jurisdiction, the areas and the main offices of the Public Prosecution
Office, as well as the conditions and the procedures for appointing and discharging
Public Prosecutors and their deputies, are all defined in the Law on public
prosecution. The actual function of the Public Prosecution Office is performed by the
Public Prosecutor of the Republic of Macedonia, the Public Prosecutor of the High
Public Prosecution Offices and the Public Prosecutor of the Primary Public
Prosecution Offices. In regard to the issues that are important for the performance of
their functions, as well as those that are of common interest, the Public Prosecutors
cooperate with the bodies in charge of the discovery of criminal and other punishable
acts and their executors, the courts, other bodies and other legal entities.
The position of the juvenile in the penal system
The Public Prosecutor is the authorized prosecutor in the procedure with
juveniles. When a minor is an executor of a criminal act, the criminal charges are
always delivered to the Public Prosecutor, regardless of whether it is a criminal act
prosecuted by official duty, or a criminal act prosecuted upon private charges. The
juvenile has a privileged position when criminal charges have been brought against
him. The basic criterion in making a distinction between the juvenile delinquency and
the other types of crime, which also implies determining a special position of the
juvenile in the criminal proceedings, is the age of the executor of the criminal act.
Therefore, the category juvenile in the criminal law occurs because of the need to
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separate the persons who, because of their biological, emotional, psychological and
social immaturity, should not be treated or punished in the same way as the adults. A
juvenile executor of a criminal act is a child or a young person for whom is it assumed
that has executed a criminal act. The minor has not yet reached the emotional,
intellectual and social maturity, and therefore is not capable of understanding the
meaning of the act and to manage his (her) deeds. In the criminal law of the Republic
of Macedonia, in a general and a special part in chapter VI, the general provisions on
the punishment of minors are given, i.e. the special criminal law provisions on
juveniles that are in effect. In this part, it is anticipated that criminal sanctions towards
children are excluded, or more precisely, it is stated that towards a minor, who in the
time of committing the criminal act has turned fourteen (a child), criminal sanctions
cannot be applied. However, it cannot be overseen that even when it is about a person
who is under the legal age, it is an issue of a socially negative behaviour, and
therefore a social reaction, which should always be in the interest of the personality
and the needs of the child, must not be omitted.
In the criminal procedure, as a process way of acting, a series of process
actions are taken by the process subjects and other participants, in order to determine
whether a criminal act has been committed, who the executor is and whether the
conditions, anticipated by the material criminal law, are met, so that the executor can
be sentenced. When the case is about minors, the basic function of the criminal
proceedings is not determining the legally-relevant facts related to the criminal act,
but protection of the personality of the juvenile and the need for his educational
correction. Therefore, the actions in the proceedings, when a minor under the age of
fourteen is the executor of criminal acts, should not be directed towards the
determination of the seriousness of the act, but ought to represent a group of activities
aimed at the socialization and re-socialization of the juvenile executor of a criminal
act. The child that has committed a crime should not be left without any reaction by
the authorized bodies, because it should be showed clearly to the child that it has done
something against the adopted norms of a society, something which is not approved
and provokes certain sanctions.
Because of that, an on-time reaction of all the subjects who are taking care of
the social protection of the children is very much needed.
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Criminal proceedings towards minors under the age of fourteen (children)
The police force, as a body that has the defining role in the discovery of the
criminal acts, makes the first contact with the juvenile executor of a criminal act.
Since the position of the children in the police procedure is neglected, there should be
reforms carried out, which would enable that the whole procedure is coordinated with
the requirements for the protection of the rights of the children, who need care and
protection, in order to avoid their abuse in the police procedure. What is important
that the police officer knows, is related to the provisions according to which children
under the age of fourteen are not capable of being criminally accountable, and
therefore a child that has not turned fourteen, cannot be detained or pre-arrested, and
if the child has been arrested because it has been believed that it is older than fourteen
years or if the child has voluntarily come to the police station or this was needed for
its protection, then the child needs to be taken back home as soon as his personal
information has been obtained.
The police force should deliver the criminal charges for the executed criminal
act to the Public Prosecution Office, given the fact that the Public Prosecutor is the
only entity authorized to ascertain that there are no conditions for criminal
prosecution, i.e. the person is not the criminally accountable. When the Public
Prosecutor receives the criminal charges, he performs the assessment according to the
article 144 from the Law on criminal procedure, so that he would be able to reach a
decision for a dismissal of the charges, or to submit a request to initiate a preparatory
procedure towards the juvenile.
In case the charges and the submitted evidence are not enough for the Public
Prosecutor to reach a decision, when the case is about a minor, he can request the
needed reports from the police force or the submitter of the charges. It should always
be insisted that the age of the executor of the criminal act, at the moment of execution
of the act, is precisely determined, using original documents for the birth and the age
of the minor (birth certificate). What happens if there is no relevant data for the age of
the child? The empirical data shows that there is no one, unified procedure that is
applied in such case, or in other words, in the Primary Public Prosecution Offices
different measures are taken. While in some of them an expert opinion is given in an
extrajudicial procedure, in others it is proceeded according to the statements of the
legal representatives. In such case, it should be insisted on initiating process actions
and interrogation of the juvenile himself (herself), which would enable the
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determination of his (her) age, by professionals who will apply appropriate scientific
and professional methods and procedures. After confirming that the person is a minor
under the age of fourteen, the Public Prosecutor dismisses the criminal charges.
The proceedings continue and the Centre of Social Work is informed about the
dismissal of the criminal charges, by the Public Prosecutor who has done that. The
Public Prosecutors do not always respect the obligation for informing the Centre of
Social Work. Thus, the social reaction on the committed crime, whose main objective
is correction of the asocial behaviour of the juvenile and creation of conditions for its
re-socialization and rehabilitation, is being left out.
The practice in the centres of social work in our country is also not identical:
some of these centres act upon the information of the Public Prosecutor and take
measures of open protection, and at the worst, take measures of institutional fostering,
while others do not take any measures. Given the fact that there is no legal basis, nor
legally regulated proceedings according to which the centres of social work would be
guided, there is a need for a normative regulation of this part of the procedure, in such
way that the centres of social work would be obliged to take some measures of care,
protection and supervision towards the category of children who are criminally
accountable. Furthermore, the existing register of measures and activities, which can
be taken by the Centre of Social Work, should be enriched with new forms of
measures and tasks, such as: apology to the victim, community work and temporal
stay in a humanitarian governmental or nongovernmental organization with specified
duties.
Conclusions and recommendations
The analysis of the role and the function of the Public Prosecution Office, in
the procedure in which a minor under the age of fourteen is an executor of a criminal
act, is based on the working out of the existing legal regulative in the Republic of
Macedonia. The data used was obtained from the deputies Public Prosecutors in the
Primary Public Prosecution Offices in Skopje, Veles and Tetovo, based on the
interviews that were carried out. The completed analysis unavoidably imposes the
need for creating a special, juvenile criminal law, which, in accordance with the
principles for protection of the minors, would also integrate solutions for a clear,
unambiguous regulation of the position, the organization and the procedure of the
Public Prosecutors, in the cases where a criminal has been executed by minors.
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The Public Prosecution Office is organized according to the principles of
hierarchy and subordination. The organization and the function of the Public
Prosecution Office set in this way, do not contradict the contemporary tendencies in
the criminal law theory and legislation, but the special procedure towards the juvenile
executor of a criminal act requires that they are further worked out, which would free
the procedure itself from the unnecessary formalism. The issue of specialization of
certain persons within the Public Prosecution Office also requires a special treatment,
having in mind the complexity of the problem called juvenile delinquency. The
previous practice shows heterogeneity in regard to this issue. In some offices there are
special departments for work with cases where the executors of criminal acts are
minors (Deputy Public Prosecutors), while in others there is no division in the work
according to the criterion ‘age of the person who is an executor of criminal acts.’
However, given the fact that for children under the age of fourteen criminal
sanctions cannot be applied, the issue of specialization of the Public Prosecutors
would obtain the deserved importance when the subject of interest would be the
category of persons who in the moment of execution of the criminal act have already
passed the age limit of fourteen years. In that case, the Public Prosecutor should be
able to obtain relevant data which could be used as a basis for determining whether a
criminal charges would be brought or not, because of the existence of the principle of
opportunity.
There is a necessity to determine a deadline for the obligation to inform the
Centre of Social Work about the dismissal of the criminal charges against the act of a
child which fulfils the legal characteristics of the criminal acts. The further procedure
is in the jurisdiction of the Centre, or by the specialization of the judges. The judge
for minors could be involved in the procedure if there is a need for taking measures
towards the parents of the minor or if misunderstandings occur between the parents
and the Centre of Social Work. In any case, all of the actions that will be taken should
be in aimed at providing help and protection, and not punishment for the executed act.
The Public Prosecution Office could be authorized for taking measures towards the
parents of the minor under the age of fourteen, obliging them to attend educations for
responsible parenthood, in case it is determined that there is such a need. The
educations would be organized within the Centre of Social Work, and the
nongovernmental sector would be included in their realization.
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CONCLUSIONS
In the research that was carried out, there are two methodological wholes - the
first one is refers to the empirical analysis of the problem of children at risk, whereas
the second one refers to the evaluation of the existing factors of protection.
1. The empirical analysis of the problems of children at risk, carried out on
the representative sample of 245 children and their families showed the
following results:
The economic situation of the polled households of children at risk is at a
relatively low level, which can be confirmed with the data that around 54% (more
than a half of them) have a total of 5000 denars per month at their disposal (the
average monthly income in the Republic of Macedonia in a household of four
member, at the beginning of 2004 has been estimated at approximately 11 000
denars). Monthly incomes of more than 20 000 denars have only 4% of the examined
households. The families that have filed a divorce suit are the ones that have the
highest monthly incomes. About 4% of the examinees think that they do not have
enough money and are “making ends meet.”
The social endangerment of the children is more emphasized in the rural
areas, which can be confirmed with the following statements: the urban households
consume food of better quality on more regular basis than the rural households, the
urban households have residential space, where they live in, which is of better quality
and is better equipped than the one that the rural families have at disposal. The parents
of the children at risk in the urban areas are more prepared to satisfy the basic needs
of the children (36% of the population) in contrast to the parents living in rural areas
(13%). In the rural areas the main carrier of the tasks around the household is the
woman.
The obtained data shows that 1/5 of the parents of children at risk have no
education, and this occurrence is typical for the Roma population (56.3%). Only
3.54% of the parents of children at risk have a higher education and they are all of
Macedonian nationality. Another characteristic is that of the total number of parents
who have higher or postsecondary education, 30% are parents of children who have
committed criminal acts, but are criminally unaccountable.
The research shows that in 81.22% of the households all of the members have
insurance. The health condition is also very good - only 15% have chronic diseases
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and 75.1% of the children pay regular visits to a health institution, in case there need
to. Although the data shows that the health insurance is not a factor of risk, certain
findings from institutions that work with children tell us that there is certain number
of families that do not have health insurance.
The analysis of the completion of the family functions in the households of
children at risk allows us to conclude that the parents are not capable to provide to
their children the adequate conditions for studying in their homes.
According to the evaluation of the parents, around 1/3 of the children from the
examined families have a problem in their behaviour (arrogance, aggressiveness,
lying), where 52 children are males and 18 are females. At the same time, 98% of the
parents have information that their children have some friends with a negative
behaviour.
In 16 children, a critical phase in the development of the problem in the
behaviour is noticed (stealing, robbery).
It is interesting to underline that the problems in the behaviour are present
within children coming from families with a low life standard (12 children) and 9 of
the children have only one parent.
4.5% of the total number of children live outside their biological families. 8 of
them are in foster families and 3 children are in the Public institution Children’s home
“11 Oktomvri” - Skopje.
16.3% of the children are not included in the regular education, 1/4 of who
are children who do not have resources for education.
The families of the children at risk whose children are students have not
established a continuous cooperation with the school. Over 50% of the polled parents
do not have more detailed information about the friends, the pocket money, the
whereabouts after school or the performance of activities during the leisure time of
their children.
The relatives of the families of children at risk in 42.8% of the cases are
resource of support when the family is in such a need, and the friends are the next
resource of support, in 23.7% of the cases.
The families of the children at risk cooperate with the centres of social work in
89.8% of the cases, and in 44.95% of the cases they cooperate with the school.
The centres of social work have had interventions in the families of the
children at risk with one form or service. That intervention, in most cases, has been
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related to giving material help. From the total of 368 services and forms of protection
that have been given, 57.3% have been material help.
2. In order to make an evaluation of the factors of protection that are related
to the children at risk interviews have been conducted with the Public
Prosecution Offices. There have also been interviews conducted with the
professional personnel employed in the PI Centres of social work, Skopje,
Tetovo, Veles and institutions that work in the field of social protection
where children have been fostered.
There is a need to publish the National plan for action
The centres of social work should prepare special programmes for work with
children at risk and their families. Special attention should be paid to the children with
an asocial behaviour, while the Centres of social work should provide an obligatory,
coordinated support and help to their families in overcoming the development
problems of these children.
There is a lack of a resource centre on a national level, where a data base for
the children at risk would be created and where a relevant, statistical bulletin on the
conditions would be published, and based on that, a strategy for providing conditions
for growth and development of the children would be set.
The authorizations of the centres of social work as a professional institution
and a body for guardianship cover a wide range of services related to the realization
of the social protection of the children. Currently, their dominant work is handling the
poverty, by serving the beneficiaries of financial help. The professional work and
services are directed towards the individual beneficiaries are reduced and often are of
a formal, legal character.
Despite the fact that the existence of interdisciplinary team work has been
anticipated for the centres of social work, this approach is present only in a small
number of the centres. The real needs of the children are not sufficiently assessed, as
well as the suitability and the capabilities of the parents, nor do they take family law
measure for protection. Moreover, there is a lack of appropriate work with the parents,
in monitoring the condition and in evaluating how the applied form of protection
corresponds to the particular need.
There is no sufficient differentiation of the activities between the separate
professions, whenever there is a need to apply methods of other disciplines
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(psychologists, pedagogues, lawyers) in addition to the methods of social work. There
is a lack of standardized procedures and guidelines in the work with certain groups of
population - beneficiaries of the Centres of social work.
In the Republic of Macedonia the number of institutionalized children is not
very high, but it ought to be noted that the time spent in the institution for some
children lasts too long, more than 10 years.
The centres of social work ??? for the insufficient preparation of the child for
an institutional placement, the unsatisfactory preparation of the required
documentation during the child’s stay, the insufficient monitoring of the child during
its stay and maintaining contacts with its family, the insufficient preparation of the
family and the local environment of the child for its return and integration.
It should be worked more on the modernization of the programmes in the
institutions and the increase of the cooperation with the centres of social work in all of
the phases: admission, duration of stay and the moment of leaving the institution. The
institutions could have a more emphasized role in the post institutional help for the
child, in such way that they would develop forms which would enable a faster
integration in the social environment.
There is a need for introducing new programmes of treatment which would
change the location, the capacity, the organization and the way of working of the
existing institutions. The institutions of social protection were established as homes
for living which provide conditions for realization of the traditional kinds of collective
housing and fostering of the children. The objects of all of the institutions were built
purposely, in different time periods, starting from the fifties to the seventies. From
today’s aspect, the constitution of the homes as institutions is classic and does not
correspond today’s needs for new organizational and professionally-methodological
approaches in the work with children.
The small number of resources (shelters for children, day centres, innovative
programmes for work with children and their parents) reduces the value of the work
of the centres of social work and the institutions for social protection in the request for
a complex approach in solving the problems of the children and their families.
The social institutions in the field of social protection, which foster children at
risk, do not have built standard methodical instruments for registering the children at
risk, monitoring their condition and coordinated intervention.
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There is a professional potential in all the sectors and institutions (education,
health, culture, child protection, NGO), but this potential is not used in the best way in
the inter-sectoral and inter-institutional cooperation at every level and in all of the
cases. In addition to this problem, there are no legal standards and procedures for
realization of cooperation according to the jurisdiction and the competencies of the
separate subjects.
It can be generally concluded that in the existing system of social protection of
children the plural protection (welfare pluralism), which would ensure cooperation of
all of the factors (state, private and civil sector) in the complete protection of the
children at risk, is not applied.
The activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in putting an end to the
juvenile delinquency are taking place after a previously prepared plan and programme
with specific estimations of the forms and the extent of endangerment of the area with
the delinquent behaviour, as well as the personal characteristics of the juvenile or the
group of juveniles.
In the Ministry of Internal Affairs a department for juvenile delinquency, as a
separately organized unit, does not exist. Instead, the work is being done in the
department of general crime. Apart from the problem of an organizational character,
there is also a lack of staff, in terms of number and profile, as well as a lack of
material conditions for work.
There are standardized procedures which should be followed in the work with
minors, but these are not respected sufficiently by the authorized officials.
A parent and the Centre of Social Work, that should be present at the hearing
of the minor, must be informed about the initiation of a procedure. However, an
additional problem is the fact that the working hours of the Centre of Social Work are
organized in one shift only.
The authorized officials have a lack of continuous education, considering the
fact that out of thirty four inspectors for juvenile delinquency; only five have attended
more than five seminars for the rights of the children, with an educational character.
The Public Prosecution Office, within its own authorizations, works with
children under the age of 14 - executors of criminal acts. In some of the Primary
Public Prosecution Offices there are special departments for work with cases of
executors of criminal acts who are minors. In others, the age of the executor of a
criminal act as a criterion, is not taken into consideration when dividing the activities.
72
The Public Prosecutor is the authorized prosecutor in the proceedings with
minors. When the Public Prosecutor receives the criminal charges, an evaluation,
according to the article 144 of the Law on criminal procedure, is being performed, so
that the prosecutor would be able to reach a decision for a dismissal of the charges or
submitting a request for initiating a preparatory procedure against the minor. After it
has been confirmed that the juvenile is under the age of fourteen (a child), the Public
Prosecutor dismisses the criminal charges.
The empirical data shows that there is no unified procedure applied in case
there is no precise data on the age of the juvenile-executor of a criminal act at the
moment of executing the act, or in other words, there are different measures taken in
the Primary Public Prosecution Offices. While in some of them an expert opinion is
given in an extrajudicial procedure, in others it is proceeded according to the
statements of the legal representatives.
The Public Prosecutors not always respect the obligation to inform the Centre
of Social Work, and therefore the social reaction to the committed criminal act, whose
main objective is correction of the asocial behaviour of the juvenile and the creation
of conditions for its re-socialization and rehabilitation, is being omitted.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The insight in the analysis of the results from the research allows us to give
several recommendations related to the work with risky categories of children:
In our country, in a theoretical and empirical sense, there is no relevant data
for the researched problem. The examinations done so far are partial and do not study
all of the indicators of the analyzed occurrence.
There is a need for a thorough categorization of children at risk, description of
the different kinds of risks, as well as a thorough aetiology and phenomenology of
each of them.
Most of the risks occur in a syndrome, and therefore a corresponding
methodology needs to be prepared, which would be used for the action of the
professionals during the treatments with children at risk.
The treatments should not address the children only, but their family as well,
which means that in the social work complex treatments need to be applied. The
family must be supported by different forms in fulfilling its functions (family centres
in local communities, specialized services, etc.).
73
The measures taken so far, especially addressing cases of children where the
process of re-socialization needs to be created, should be enriched with the
alternatives.
The institutionalization should be replaced by deinstitutionalization – however
with a certain dose of carefulness. Some of the institutions need to remain, but not
that abundant, instead with enriched forms of functioning.
Basic standards of the activities with all kinds of children at risk need to be
prepared.
By including alternative measures in the work with children, volunteers, with
an appropriate preparation for their work, could also get involved.
The alternative measures, such as community work, need to be well though
and carried out in practice (in terms of range of resources and material basis).
There should be permanent education for all of the profiles involved in the re-
socialization of the minors (inspectors for juvenile delinquency, school pedagogues,
parents, etc.).
The professional teams that work in the school ought to work out their special
methodology for better, preventive and curative actions in the work with children at
risk.
The amount and the quality of the resources in all of the areas of child
protection (institutional, extra-institutional forms, participation of NGO and the
private sector, training for the personnel, etc.) need to be increased, particularly in the
local community in regard to the treatment of children drug users, victims of family
violence, street children. The development of fostering families is especially
supported, as they are a significant resource for care of children at a local level, with
their specialization for the treatment of special problems of the children.
It should always be insisted on precise determination of the age of the minor,
at the moment of executing the act, by using original documents for the time of birth
and age of the juvenile (birth certificate). In case there is no relevant data, it should be
insisted on taking process actions and examining the juvenile himself (herself), which
would enable determining his (her) age, by experts applying appropriate scientific and
professional methods and procedures.
Using the legal regulation in the Republic of Macedonia as a starting point,
there is a necessity of creating a separate, juvenile criminal law, and in that sense,
redefining the role of the police force as a body obliged for putting an end to the
74
juvenile delinquency. The preventive work should be emphasized, and the criminal-
tactic methods and procedure need to be applied in a specific way, respecting the
personality of the minor.
It is desirable that in the Ministry of Internal Affairs a special police officer is
involved, who will not be included in the police procedure, but will take care of the
rights and the interests of the child while it is in the police station. In that way, the
rights of the child, determined by the international rules and standards, would be
guaranteed.
In order to free the procedure of the elements of repression and retribution, the
Centre of social work must be involved in the procedure, at its very beginning, which
would mean that measures for re-socialization of the young person will be taken on
time.
In order to successfully complete their tasks, the authorized officials need to
possess appropriate experience and skills, to be specially trained and qualified for
work with juvenile delinquents, and special attention should be paid to the possibility
for forming special departments for juvenile delinquency.
The analysis of the role and the function of the Public Prosecution Office in
the procedure where the executor of the criminal act is a juvenile, unavoidably
imposes the need to create a special juvenile criminal legislature, which, in
accordance with the principles for protection of the minors, would also incorporate
solutions for a clear, unambiguous regulation of the procedure of the Public
Prosecutors, in the cases where a criminal has been executed by minors.
The Public Prosecution Office is organized according to the principle of
hierarchy and subordination. The organization and the function of the Public
Prosecution Office set in such way do not contradict the contemporary tendencies in
the criminal law theory and legislation, but the special procedure towards a juvenile
executor of a criminal act requires their further working out, so that the procedure
itself would be free from the unnecessary formalism.
There is also a necessity to determine a deadline for the obligation to inform
the Centre of Social Work about the dismissal of the criminal charges against the act
of a child which fulfils the legal characteristics of the criminal acts, so that measures
for help and protection could be taken on time.
75
In practice, when dealing with irresponsible parents in the care of their
children, all of the authorized institutions (Centre of social work, Public Prosecutor,
Court) ought to act in accordance with the law.
Special programmes intended for work with parents who neglect or abuse the
child need to be created and should be carried out by the Centre of social work and
the state institutions in a partnership with the NGO.
A procedure that would oblige the Ministry of Internal Affairs to report every
case of violence on a child to the Centre of social work ought to be established, so that
the Centre would be able to provide immediate intervention. All of this is to be
followed by an appropriate procedure.
The number of the professionals should be increased in accordance to the new
obligations that result from the increased number of beneficiaries, the requirement to
make the work more efficient and effective and the need for specialization of certain
fields of work according to the new professional and scientific achievements.
The programmes for work with children need to be innovated and in that
sense:
The work with the beneficiary should be individualized;
Psychological-social programme for solving the developmental problems and
needs of the children should be introduced;
The mutual cooperation between the Centre of social work and the institution
should be enforced, in terms of returning the child to the family in the local
community;
The institution, in cooperation with the Centres of social work, should work on
returning the child in its family and social environment, where the child
actually comes from, which would also contribute to dealing with the issue of
finding an apartment and employment, by not concentrating this in Skopje;
There is a need for a greater preparation for the independence of the children
through various activities, after they have left the institution, which asks for a
greater engagement by the centres of social work and an increased mutual
communication between the centre and the institution during the stay of the
child in the home;
The work in the department of minuvaci should be developed;
76
A detailed proposal about the realization of the measure ‘referring to a
disciplinary centre’ needs to be prepared, as well as corresponding
preparations for its functioning;
A department for female minors and their fostering and execution of a
measure ‘referring to an educational institution’ should be opened.
In the preventive and curative work with children at risk, the plural protection
should be present. On one hand this means action with different factors of protection,
and on the other, it means inclusion of state, private and nongovernmental
organizations in the treatments of children and their families.
ANNEX
77
Table 1. Ability to handle the issue of satisfying the needs of the child, in regard to the place of residence
Place of residence
Ability to handle the satisfaction of the child’s needs TotalYES NO OTHER
Rural areas 4 20 6 30Urban areas 56 143 16 215
Table 2. Conditions for studying in regard to the place of residence
Place of residence
Conditions for studying TotalIts own room Shared Wherever Other
Rural areas 9 4 10 5 28Urban areas 72 20 36 27 155
Table 3. Talking with the child, in regard to the place of residence
Place of residence
Talking with the child TotalOn daily
basisRarely In case of
a problemI don’t
talkOther
Rural areas 21 5 3 1 / 30Urban areas 160 23 23 5 4 215
Table 4. Availability of teaching supplies, in regard to the place of residence
Place of residence
Availability of teaching supplies School books Notebooks School supplies
Comple-tely
Partially None Comple-tely
Partially None Comple-tely
Partially None
Rural 16 11 1 14 13 1 12 12 4Urban 103 43 9 101 41 13 93 42 20
Table 5. Helping the child with the studying, in regard to the place of residence
Place of residence
Helping the child with the studying
YES Not capable NO OtherM F O M F O M F O M F O
Rural areas
10 7 5 5 4 1 5 5 1 / / 1
Urban areas
69 48 31 11 10 5 29 32 13 / / 27
78
Table 6. Availability of teaching supplies, in regard to the monthly income
Monthly income
Availability of teaching suppliesSchool books Notebooks School supplies
Completely Partially None Completely Partially None Completely Partially None1 45 43 7 41 43 11 33 43 192 29 11 2 31 9 2 28 11 33 20 2 1 22 1 / 22 1 /4 15 / / 15 / / 15 / /5 4 / / 4 / / 4 / /6 2 / / 2 / / 2 / /7 1 / / 1 / / 1 / /8 1 / / 1 / / 1 / /Total 117 56 10 117 53 13 106 55 22
Table 7. Availability of teaching supplies, in regard to the nationality
Nationa-lity
Availability of teaching suppliesSchool books Note books School supplies
Completely Partially None Completely Partially None Completely Partially NoneMacedonians
87 9 2 85 13 / 77 17 4
Albanians 12 15 1 12 14 2 13 13 2Turks 2 3 / 2 3 / 2 3 /Serbians 2 / / 2 / / 2 / /Roma 10 25 8 9 22 12 8 19 16Other 5 2 / 5 2 / 3 2 2Total 118 54 11 115 54 14 105 54 24
Table 8. Conditions for studying in regard to the nationality
Nationality Conditions for studying TotalIts own room Shared Wherever Other
Macedonians 65 12 12 9 98Albanians 8 3 15 2 28Turks 2 1 1 1 5Serbians 1 / / 1 2Roma 4 8 19 12 43Other 2 2 2 1 7Total 82 26 49 26 183
79
Table 9. Sleeping space for the children, in regard to the nationality Nationality Sleeping space for the children Total
Separate room Together with the parents
On a mattress, on the floor
Other
Macedonians 74 40 / 7 121Albanians 11 22 1 1 35Turks 3 4 2 1 10Serbian 1 1 / / 2Roma 11 41 8 8 68Other 3 5 / 1 9Total 103 113 11 18 245
Table 10. Ability to handle the satisfaction of the child’s needs, in regard to the nationality
Nationality Ability to satisfy the child’s needs TotalYES NO Other
Macedonians 44 63 14 121Albanians 7 25 3 35Turks 2 5 3 10Serbians 2 / / 2Roma 5 63 / 68Other / 7 2 9Total: 60 163 22 245
Table 11. Information on the childInformation on the child
I know everything
I know a little
I know No answer Do not know
Who are its friends
115 27 64 19 20
How the allowance is spent
106 22 62 42 13
What are the whereabouts after school
104 22 69 35 15
Where s/he goes out at night
100 17 56 50 22
Leisure time activities
106 14 76 35 14
Overview 1. Leisure time and hobbies of the children
80
Leisure time HobbyOrganized Not organized Has Does not have
96 149 91 154
Overview 2. Way of educating the children
Ways of educating the children TotalAutocratic Democratic Laissez Faire Other
42 151 45 7 245
Overview 3. Spousal relations
Spousal relations TotalGood Cold Sometimes
conflictiveConstantly conflictive
Other
123 8 26 24 64 245
Overview 4 Opportunity for responsible parenthood education of the parents
Opportunity for responsible parenthood education TotalYES NO OTHER20 216 9 245
Overview 5 Cooperation between the parents and the school
Cooperation between the parents and the school TotalRegular Irregular Upon an
invitationNo contacts Other
104 18 38 13 10 183
Overview 6. Health problems in the family
Health problems in the family TotalNone Chronic Mental Physical Mental
retardationOther
156 25 7 14 26 25 261
Overview 7. Differing in the educational influences on the children
Differing in the educational influences on the childrenBetween the mother and
the fatherBetween a parent and another influential member of the
family a) yes b) no a) yes b) no
62 143 20 133
Overview 8. Applied measures towards the child in the school
81
Applied measures towards the child in the school TotalCounselling and
advising Warning Repri-
mandCriminal charge
Prefrluvawe Other
32 13 8 2 6 7 68
Overview 9. Institutions the family has establish contacts with
Institutions the family has establish contacts with IMCSW School Social
institutionNGO Religious
communitiesOther
220 110 9 42 4 12
Overview 10. Forms of using the leisure time
Forms of using the leisure time F1. Hunting and fishing 162. Cinema 103. Theatre 64. Concerts, classical music, exhibitions 65. Restaurant, bar, night club 56. Bistros, cafés 127. Picnics 248. Sports 159. Reading newspapers 7810. Listening to the radio 11811. Watching TV 19312. Playing an instrument, painting, writing 313. Visiting cousins 16014. Visiting friends 15115. Going to church (mosque) 7216. Reading books 2917. Other 16
Overview 11. Behavioural problems of the children
Behavioural problems of the children TotalA A/1 B B/2 C27 21 3 3 16 70
Overview 12. Characteristics of the children at school
Characteristics of the children at schoolPoor
concentrationDifficulty
rememberingUninterested Worried Makes great
effortsHyperactive Other Total
25 23 26 42 41 19 7 183
Overview 13. Reasons for not attending school
82
Reasons for not attending school TotalNo resources No school Prevented
from doing it Other
18 / 18 4 40
Overview 14. Behaviour in the previous school year
Behaviour in the previous school year TotalExemplary Other
Unsatisfying Good Satisfying154 12 15 2 183
Overview 15. Characteristics of the children’s friends
Characteristics of the children’s friends TotalGood Problematic
childrenBoth problematic
and goodNo
friends Do not know
Other
147 13 3 20 16 16 245
Overview 16. Visits between the child and its friends
Visits between the child and its friends TotalThey do not visit
each otherYes, regularly Yes, often Yes, very often Other
58 107 36 10 34 245
Overview 17. Participation in extracurricular activities
Participation in extracurricular activities TotalSport practices
Folklore Courses Computers Religious lectures
Other
20 9 15 13 / 12 69
Beneficiaries of social protection in the year of 2002(The state on December 31st)
83
Municipality Total
Adults (persons of legal
age)
Juveniles
Beneficiaries are:
Without parental care
Having educational-
social problems
Educationally neglected
Handicapped Other juveniles
10 BEROVO 738 640 98 8 10 37 43 020 BITOLA 10383 5789 4594 108 3470 560 377 7930 BROD 383 340 43 10 10 1 22 040 VALANDOVO 960 566 394 8 279 7 100 050 VINICA 646 451 195 2 47 30 116 060 GEVGELIJA 833 679 154 12 34 39 65 470 GOSTIVAR 5029 3682 1347 125 888 19 235 8080 DEBAR 308 151 157 24 32 27 65 990 DELCEVO 1047 888 159 16 36 18 84 5
110 KAVADARCI 1125 987 138 21 35 29 52 1120 KICEVO 1089 884 205 21 2 26 112 44130 KOCANI 3498 2525 973 12 217 300 444 0140 KRATOVO 409 383 26 0 6 8 12 0150 KR.PALANKA 703 616 87 17 17 51 2 0160 KRUSEVO 1348 1150 198 19 68 41 70 0170 KUMANOVO 1966 1265 701 32 86 316 263 4180 NEGOTINO 847 762 85 9 1 24 46 5190 OHRID 908 215 693 19 17 222 435 0200 PRILEP 1744 803 941 56 0 158 727 0210 PROBISTIP 3006 2578 428 27 244 95 62 0220 RADOVIS 1826 1551 275 14 74 128 49 10230 RESEN 1430 1295 135 12 24 17 15 67240 SV.NIKOLE 2543 1830 713 21 498 48 146 0251 SKOPJE G.Baba 2288 1584 704 47 321 125 211 0252 SKOPJE Karpos 2435 1854 581 36 285 114 146 0253 SKOPJE K.Voda 2977 2118 859 67 315 269 208 0254 SKOPJE Centar 2135 1538 597 33 219 132 213 0255 SKOPJE Cair 2273 1471 802 46 411 133 212 0260 STRUGA 1102 958 144 28 23 13 2 78270 STRUMICA 1479 1199 280 19 167 80 11 3280 TETOVO 2024 1102 922 99 0 18 805 0290 VELES 1911 1336 575 39 31 166 330 9300 STIP 1647 1194 453 24 13 127 217 72
Total: 63040 44384 18656 1031 7880 3378 5897 470
Source of the data: Statistical bulletin for 2002, Bureau of social activities - Skopje
TOTAL NUMBER OF EMPLOYED STAFF IN THE CENTRES OF SOCIAL WORK
(The state on December 31st)
84
Municipality TotalProfessional staff Admin.
technical staff
Social workers
Pedagogues
Psycho-logists Lawyers Other
a) Total number of employees1 BEROVO 10 4 1 1 1 1 22 BITOLA 25 10 2 3 4 3 33 BROD 6 1 0 1 1 1 24 VALANDOVO 9 3 0 0 2 1 35 VINICA 5 1 0 1 0 0 36 GEVGELIJA 12 5 1 1 1 1 37 GOSTIVAR 17 8 1 0 1 2 58 DEBAR 12 4 1 1 2 1 39 DELCEVO 8 2 1 1 2 0 2
10 DEMIR HISAR 3 1 0 0 1 0 111 KAVADARCI 10 4 1 1 1 1 212 KICEVO 13 4 1 0 3 2 313 KOCANI 13 5 1 1 1 2 314 KRATOVO 7 4 0 0 1 0 215 KR.PALANKA 15 7 1 1 0 4 216 KRUSEVO 6 2 1 0 2 0 117 KUMANOVO 22 9 2 2 3 4 218 NEGOTINO 10 3 1 1 1 2 219 OHRID 14 6 2 1 1 3 120 PRILEP 24 10 2 2 1 1 821 PROBISTIP 8 3 1 1 0 0 322 RADOVIS 9 4 1 1 1 1 123 RESEN 13 4 1 1 4 1 224 SV.NIKOLE 10 3 1 1 1 2 225 STRUGA 19 6 1 2 2 1 726 STRUMICA 16 8 1 1 2 0 427 TETOVO 32 11 2 4 3 4 828 VELES 20 8 1 2 2 1 629 STIP 13 5 0 2 2 1 330 SKOPJE 115 40 10 10 7 18 30
TOTAL: 496 185 38 43 53 58 119b)Temporarily employed 24SV.NIKOLE 1 0 0 0 0 0 127TETOVO 1 0 0 0 0 0 130SKOPJE 20 5 0 0 0 5 10
TOTAL: 22 5 0 0 0 5 12
Source of the data: Statistical bulleting for 2002 of the Bureau of social activities - Skopje
EMPLOYED PROFESSIONAL STAFF IN THE CENTRES FOR SOCIAL WORK IN THE YEAR OF 2002
(The state on December 31st)
MunicipalityProfessional profiles
Total Social workers Pedagogues Psychologists Lawyers Others
85
a) Total number of employees1 BEROVO 8 4 1 1 1 12 BITOLA 22 10 2 3 4 33 BROD 4 1 0 1 1 14 VALANDOVO 6 3 0 0 2 15 VINICA 2 1 0 1 0 06 GEVGELIJA 9 5 1 1 1 17 GOSTIVAR 12 8 1 0 1 28 DEBAR 9 4 1 1 2 19 DELCEVO 6 2 1 1 2 0
10 DEMIR HISAR 2 1 0 0 1 011 KAVADARCI 8 4 1 1 1 112 KICEVO 10 4 1 0 3 213 KOCANI 10 5 1 1 1 214 KRATOVO 5 4 0 0 1 015 KR.PALANKA 13 7 1 1 0 416 KRUSEVO 5 2 1 0 2 017 KUMANOVO 20 9 2 2 3 418 NEGOTINO 8 3 1 1 1 219 OHRID 13 6 2 1 1 320 PRILEP 16 10 2 2 1 121 PROBISTIP 5 3 1 1 0 022 RADOVIS 8 4 1 1 1 123 RESEN 11 4 1 1 4 124 SV.NIKOLE 8 3 1 1 1 225 STRUGA 12 6 1 2 2 126 STRUMICA 12 8 1 1 2 027 TETOVO 24 11 2 4 3 428 VELES 14 8 1 2 2 129 STIP 10 5 0 2 2 130 SKOPJE 85 40 10 10 7 18
TOTAL: 377 185 38 43 53 58b) Temporarily employed30 SKOPJE 10 5 0 0 0 5
TOTAL: 10 5 0 0 0 5
Source of the data: Statistical bulletin for 2002 of the Bureau of social activities - Skopje
REGISTERED SOCIALLY EXCLUDED JUVENILES IN 2003
(The state on October 1st)
Municipality
Status of the socially excluded juveniles under 18 years of age
86
Source of the data: A poll on the registered socially excluded persons in the centres for social work,
carried out by the Bureau of social activities
87
88
Sveti Nikole
Vinica
Delčevo
Probistip
Berovo
Kriva Palanka
Demir Hisar
PUBLIC INSTITUTIONSINTERMUNICIPAL CENTRES OF SOCIAL WORK
89
PI. Children’s home “11 Oktomvri”
PI for fostering children with educational problems
PI Bureau for fostering, educating and teaching children and young people “Ranka Milanovic”
PI Bureau for rehabilitation of children and young people
Demir Special institution
Bureau for protection and rehabilitation – Banja Bansko
PI Home for infants and young children Bitola
90
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