€21m EU and state funds to support at-risk families

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Lithuanian professionals working with families said that the area of family support is in a flawed state – only those families who are already on the at-risk list receive state support. All other struggling families that may be hard-working but are undergoing crises or experiencing problems, are left unsupported because they are not included on the list.

Experts from the Ministry of Social Security and Labour said that the first communal family homes will open in municipalities next year. The families will be educated about relationships, children’s education, and supervision, and on how to overcome crisis and develop social skills as well as a range of skills which the Ministry said were necessary for a fully-fledged life.

Eligijus Laimikis, the head of the Children‘s Rights Department at Jonava district municipality, argued that families whose one or both parents have grown up in a social risk family, also tend to end up on the social risk list. Families of people that have grown up in children’s orphanages also often end up needing support.

Lzinios.lt