14-12-2023 16:57
40 staff members from the supervisory and security staff of the GDEP participated in a training to acquire skills for working with children whose parents are deprived of liberty.
The event is within the framework of Predefined projects 2 "Enhancing the capacity of prison staff, building a pilot prison linked to a training centre and improving the rehabilitation of prisoners" , Programme Area 19, Justice Programme of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014 - 2021.
In the framework of Activity 2.4.1 "Development of a specialised training programme for staff for work with children with imprisoned parents", prison and prison hostel wardens were in Bankya from 4-9 December 2023.
The training programme included topics oriented towards the Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec (2018) 5 on children of parents deprived of liberty. European practices of incorporating the children's perspective in the functioning of the prison were also touched upon.
The training was conducted by the Norwegian experts Henrietta Brune and Karen Johansson from ONA Prison and Dr. Vesela Banova - external expert for Activity 2.4.1 of the Predefined projects 2. The Norwegian experts introduced the participants in the training to the manual of operational procedures for staff in the reception of children: communication, conducting a search, confidentiality.
Dr. Vesela Banova presented the details of the staff training program for working with children with parents in prison, which will be oriented to children visiting their parents in prison. It is tailored to their vulnerability and emotional sensitivity.
It is envisaged that the programme and the manual will form part of the initial training programme for GDEP staff.