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| Latvia Human Development Report
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Sections:
- Orphans and Children Without Parental Support and Supervision
- People With Physical Disabilities
- People With Mental Disabilities
- The Elderly
- Former Prisoners
- Conclusion
The integration of marginal and vulnerable groups and their participation in human development cannot be analyzed apart from the broader socio-economic situation in the country. Since the restoration of independence, a number of problems not encountered during the Soviet era have arisen. These problems are not only related to the economic crisis and the reform of government and the social welfare system, but also to the imperative of developing new modes of thinking and attitudes about challenging issues.
According to data from the State Statistical Committee, approximately 80% of all families in Latvia rated their economic condition negatively in the first quarter of 1994. In other words, most people in Latvia have encountered difficulties in providing themselves with food, medicine, clothing and lodging, not to mention satisfying educational and cultural needs. Defining social welfare priorities in a society where so many people are experiencing discomfort and insecurity about their future is no simple problem -- many need assistance, but resources are scarce. Only the effective use of existing resources can lead to a timely solution of problems.
Society consists of individuals living alone or in families, and both may experience poverty and social vulnerability. Therefore, the term "vulnerable group" is appropriate not only for individuals, but also for the families in which they live. Social integration is mediated by the family or other social groups. A society seeking to improve the welfare of its members must promote the strengthening of the family and the satisfaction of its basic needs. Every factor and manifestation of social stress -- growing poverty, rising health care costs, burgeoning unemployment and crime -- has touched thousands of families in Latvia. Many families have encountered all or several of these problems simultaneously. What is more, these families often have children.
A vulnerable social group can be defined as a collectivity which cannot satisfy its primary or secondary needs without the support of society. The condition of vulnerable groups in Latvia is characterized by the following:
- an income below the subsistence minimum, even the portion for food;
- an education unsuited to demand in the labour market;
- low professional qualifications;
- an absence of social support from a family or any other small group;
- physical or mental disability;
- a disoriented or malformed system of values;
- an inability to psychologically mobilize oneself to attain goals.
If a socially vulnerable group is one that encounters problems of integration in one sphere of life, a large number of vulnerable groups exist in Latvia (see Table 3.1).
If the table below is unreadable, Click here to see preformatted version
| Table 3.1 Official Crisis Subsistence Minimum as Compared to Social Benefits, 1 January 1995 (Lats) | |
|---|---|
| Amount | |
| Crisis subsistence minimum | 38.23 |
| Average pension | 28.63 |
| Average invalid's pension | 31.65 |
| Social pension | 18.85 |
| Pension for those without a supporter | 27.29 |
| Pension for a child invalid | 21.08 |
| Minimum wage | 28.00 |
Groups that cannot satisfy their needs in many spheres of life are:
- families with children and a per capita income lower than the crisis subsistence minimum (single parents, families with many children, the unemployed, alcoholics, drug addicts, and families raising a disabled or seriously ill child);
- orphans and children living without parental supervision and support;
- disabled persons;
- lonely elderly people;
- former prisoners;
- alcoholics and drug addicts;
- the unemployed, etc.
Orphans and Children Without Parental Support and Supervision
According to Latvian legislation, an orphan is a minor whose parents have died. Children without parental support and supervision are:- children legally left in maternity wards by mothers;
- children who have been maliciously and deliberately abandoned in maternity wards, foster homes or children's homes, and whose parents no longer show an interest in nor participate in raising the child;
- abandoned children whose parents are unknown;
- children whose parents have lost their parental rights or had them suspended according to the provisions of the Civil Code;
- children whose parents are missing;
- children whose parents are unable to fulfill their parental duties due to prolonged illness or imprisonment;
- children with one parent unable to fulfill parental duties for the aforementioned reasons and another who has not participated in raising the child for six months.
At present there are 6511 children without parental support or supervision and only a small number -- 63 -- are orphans. 4610 children are under guardianship, 787 are in orphanages, and 1114 (not including children in boarding and auxiliary schools) are in municipal children's homes.
Special institutions provide for the care, upbringing and development of orphans and other children without parents. Latvia currently has six orphanages for children up to two years of age and three care centers for children with disabilities financed from the state budget, as well as 29 children's homes financed by local governments for children 2 to 18 years of age. In 1994 there were seven family children's homes with 75 children. Among children placed in orphanages between 1990 and 1994, an increasing number have been raised in poor social conditions by single mothers (see Table 3.2).
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| Table 3.2 Number of Children Admitted to Child Care Centers, 1990-1994 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | No of Places | No of Children (Total) | No Admitted | Admitted due to: | |
| Illness | Social conditions | ||||
| 1990 | 960 | 802 | 339 | 228 | 56 |
| 1991 | 920 | 711 | 275 | 107 | 127 |
| 1992 | 930 | 704 | 297 | 89 | 160 |
| 1993 | 930 | 757 | 363 | 75 | 188 |
| 1994 | 810 | 787 | 402 | 60 | 261 |
Almost one-third of all children in children's homes and four-fifths of those in orphanages have mental disabilities (see Table 3.3). Some of these children were not born with mental disability, but developed it from a lack of parental care during the first years of life.
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| Table 3.3 Mental Development of Children in Orphanages and Children's Homes, 1 January 1995 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Institution | Children's Orphan Care Center | Children's Homes | |||||||||
| Total No of Children | 787 | 1114 | |||||||||
| Healthy | 129 | 743 | |||||||||
| Mental Disability | 343 | 297 | |||||||||
| Oligophrenia: | |||||||||||
- Total| 315 | 74
| - Debilitated | 77 | 68
| - Imbecility | 133 | 6
| - Idiocy | 105 | -
| |
While the Civil Code says special Orphans' Courts should decide issues related to orphans and other children without parents, these courts have not yet been established. In some regions of Latvia, Children's Rights Inspectors of School Boards are responsible for these cases. After the Law on Local Government came into force on 9 June 1994, a number of regions entrusted this function to the councils of rural districts. These rural districts generally lack experts to address these issues in a professional manner. Lately, the suspension of parental rights has become increasingly commonplace, children have been withdrawn from families, placed in children's homes, or been appointed guardians. It is essential that legislation be passed setting a concrete period during which parental rights can be suspended. Currently, the issue of the child's future is not being addressed -- it remains unclear whether a child has the right to return to the family or whether the parents will be forever released of responsibility for rearing their child.
Children raised in institutions are not prepared for independent life, as they become accustomed to being cared for. However, over the last several years, personnel in child care institutions have begun to address the issue of adaptation and to pay greater attention to the development of self-care skills. The advantage of family children's homes lies in the fact that children are not isolated from society and participate in household chores. Possible alternatives in this sphere include:
- a broad-based educational campaign for teenagers on contraception, with the aim of preventing unwanted pregnancies, the attendant social problems, and the resulting abandonment of children;
- further development of teaching family basics at schools with a special emphasis on inculcating a better understanding of parental responsibilities and the impact of neglecting them;
- further preventive work with "unfavourable families" and monitoring of cases when necessary;
- after separating a child from the family, envisaging the possibility of the child's return; social work institutions should simultaneously monitor the improvement of the situation in the family and offer parents realistic opportunities for rehabilitation (in cases of alcoholism) or concrete help in improving social conditions (employment, education, social and psychological assistance);
- development of the foster parent institution, in which a child is relinquished temporarily but maintains ties with biological parents; parents must know that they will be able to get the child back in the event that they change their attitude towards child rearing and display the ability to provide the necessary conditions for a child's development; guidelines must be adopted for raising children in foster families;
- provision of all the necessary consultations in every region of the country for children, their parents and foster-parents on solving possible problems;
- maintenance of ties between children in child care institutions and their parents;
- provision of assistance and consultations for children raised in child care institutions; the organization of "group homes" for youth incapable of living on their own.
People With Physical Disabilities
Persons with physical disabilities constitute one of the largest groups experiencing particular difficulties in social integration. 4.14% of Latvia's population have physical disabilities (see Table 3.4).If the table below is unreadable, Click here to see preformatted version
| Table 3.4 People With Physical Disabilities by Category, 1 January 1995 | |
|---|---|
| Total Number of People with Physical Disabilities | 126,413 |
| Including | |
| - I Group - Very Serious Disability | 11,859 |
| - II Group - Serious Disability | 72,971 |
| - III Group - Moderate Disability | 21,648 |
| - Children with Disability | 5,694 |
| - Disabled from Childhood | 5,306 |
There is still a widespread attitude that disabled people are not full-fledged members of society, that they are less capable and therefore less needed by society. For many years disabled people were denied the opportunity to integrate fully into social life. Thus, they are often afraid to be among other people. This especially holds true for those with visible or mental disabilities.
In order to facilitate the integration of persons with disabilities into society, action is needed on three levels. On the first or functional level, it is necessary to promote the full physical functioning of disabled persons through medical care, treatment or rehabilitation, as well as access to medicine, orthopedic prostheses, technological aids, and compensatory techniques facilitating physical functions and the accessibility of the environment. On the second or social level, it is necessary to provide disabled persons with socialization opportunities through education, employment, social security, and participation in cultural, political and social life. The most important factor promoting socialization is the attitude of the public towards persons with physical and mental disabilities. On the third or psychological level, society must provide for the psychological comfort of every person with a disability, encourage enhanced self-esteem, and assist in addressing the psychological problems often accompanying a disability.
The 1992 Law "On the Medical and Social Protection of Persons with Disabilities" states that the person with a disability must be provided the opportunity to integrate into society to compensate the inequality obtaining at the outset. Each person with a disability, regardless of its cause, has the right to such social assistance as is necessary to secure a place in society corresponding to his/her wishes and abilities. Unfortunately, this law is of a purely declarative character at the moment.
However, a programme of medical rehabilitation has been drafted and experts in this field are being trained. A pilot project is currently under way at the Vaivari National Rehabilitation Centre.
The necessary medicines are often inaccessible because of high prices, and subsidies are only available for those drugs necessary for treating a primary illness. Local government social aid services are addressing this problem by allotting benefits for the purchase of medicine or providing medicine from humanitarian aid shipments. People with disabilities have the possibility of receiving discounts for visits to sanatoriums to improve their health. Over the last several years, several rehabilitation centres for children with disabilities have been established, which mainly provide medical care and rehabilitation.
The production of prostheses and purchase of technological aids is financed from the state budget, and 628,682 lats were allotted for this purpose in 1995. Yet, this sum is insufficient to satisfy the needs of all people with disabilities. Two enterprises fully financed from the state budget manufacture prostheses and technological aids. Currently, the high price of products manufactured abroad puts them out of reach for most people in Latvia. However, rental centers of technological aids are being planned.
There are 62 specialized schools in Latvia serving 8563 children with various physical and mental disabilities. 37 of these schools serve mentally disabled children. Thus, these children are isolated from healthy children and often, separated from their families. Currently, the integration of these children in general education schools is virtually impossible, for society in general (including teachers, parents and children) is not materially or psychologically prepared to teach disabled children in ordinary schools. However, both Christian and private schools have recently begun to work in this realm. However, children with severe disabilities often do not attend school at all.
Special schools for those with mental disabilities are available only through 15 years of age. Afterwards, children have virtually no opportunity to continue education, and it is almost impossible for them to find work. The Ministry of Education plans to gradually prolong the schooling period for these children through 18 years of age.
For people with disabilities to compete successfully in the labour market, they must acquire the requisite employment skills. In conjunction with the system of general and vocational education, there are two vocational education centers in Alsviki and Jurmala for disabled persons, where 230 people acquire a profession every year. With the support of the German Ministry of Welfare, the Jurmala State Rehabilitation Centre is becoming an important institution, as it helps evaluate the capabilities of people with disabilities, their suitability for the profession of their choice, and trains the disabled for work in various modern professions.
In connection with changes in the economy and the structure of the labour market, the number of people with disabilities who are working has diminished drastically during the last few years. According to data from the Welfare Ministry's Social Insurance Department, 13,092 people with disabilities were working in 1993, but the number had fallen to only 8104 in 1995 (see Table 3.5). People with mental disabilities are in particularly difficult circumstances, as there are no sheltered workshops in the country.
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| Table 3.5 Employment Rate of People with Physical Disabilities, 1993-1995 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Employment by Category of Disability and % of Total Category Employed | ||||||
| I | II | III | ||||
| No | % | No | % | No | % | |
| 1 January 1993 | 299 | 2.4 | 4011 | 5.5 | 8782 | 36.3 |
| 1 February 1994 | 120 | 1.0 | 2414 | 3.3 | 5783 | 29.6 |
| 1 March 1995 | 154 | 1.3 | 3128 | 4.3 | 4822 | 22.3 |
The state budget allocates funds for the retraining of disabled people when they have lost work or lack the necessary skills to find another job. The State Employment Service cooperates with NGOs in organizing retraining courses. An agreement has been reached with representatives of the International Labour Organization on expert assistance on setting quotas for jobs suitable for disabled people in Latvia.
Day-care centers have been established for persons with mental disabilities who have encountered severe material difficulties. Municipal social service agencies provide home care for 2512 disabled persons. Like other needy people, people with disabilities have the right to receive local government social benefits for purchasing food, paying utilities, etc.
People with disabilities of the first and second categories have the right to use public transportation free of charge. People who cannot use public transportation because of a physical disability have the right to an annual compensation of two minimal monthly wages to covering transportation expenses. People in wheelchairs encounter enormous difficulties in Latvia, as doors and lifts in most buildings are not wheelchair accessible. People in wheelchairs have virtually no access to stores or other public places, and they cannot use the streets due to an absence of ramps. Public transportation is not wheelchair accessible either. Currently, these problems are being addressed at neither the state nor the municipal level, and disabled people are forced to rely on their own initiative and the support of their relatives. St. John's Aid plans to create a specialized disabled persons' transport service that will improve the situation somewhat.
Persons with severe sight and hearing disabilities have extremely limited
opportunities to obtain information. Latvia has only one magazine - Rosme - in
Braille issued by the Latvian Society of the Blind, but regular publication is
threatened by a lack of resources. There are no newspapers and publications
with enlarged print, and only a few television programmes provide sign language
translations.
People With Mental Disabilities
People with various mental disabilities have extreme difficulties in
integrating into society. The total number of registered patients with different
degrees of mental disability in 1994 was 70,578. A markedly negative attitude
towards the mentally ill prevails in society. Such people are unable to find any
employment at all -- the special workshops of the Soviet era (created mainly to
exploit cheap labour for primitive work) were abolished during the transition to a
market economy. Obtaining the necessary care at home is difficult, as social
service employees frequently refuse to work with the mentally ill. Special social
care departments have been established at some hospitals, but cannot provide
support for all who need it. Thus, many patients are forced to stay in mental
hospitals and similar institutions for a prolonged period or even for life.
Family members of the mentally ill often encounter enormous problems, as the patients often need continuous care. Currently, day-care and employment centers are not yet functioning in Latvia, family members have no opportunity to work, and their living standards suffer.
Guaranteeing the human rights (especially the property rights) of the mentally ill
remains an acute problem. Moreover, the issue of adaptation to a normal
environment after leaving an institution remains unresolved. Currently, the staff
of the Jelgava mental hospital is creating an adaptation department, and the
Jurmala Neurosis and Paraneurosis Hospital and the Vecpiebalga mental
hospital are introducing new approaches to work with the mentally ill.
The Elderly
In 1994 Latvia had 569,856 people older than the retirement age (55 years for
women, 60 for men). 40% of the total were married couples, 29% lived in
extended families and 31% lived alone. According to the data of the Social
Assistance Department of the Welfare Ministry on 1 January 1995, 107,822
lacked family support of any kind and 139,309 had family members who were
either unwilling or unable to provide them with material assistance. Moreover,
12,579 persons were in need of home care and 1473 were confined to beds.
The main hindrance to the integration of the elderly in society lies in economic and psychological difficulties in coping with the transition to a market economy. Such difficulties are part and parcel of a pensioner's daily life:
- those living on pensions are not able to pay even the most urgent bills -- rent, food, clothing, medicine, etc.;
- pensioners lack resources for social activities -- newspaper subscriptions, telephone bills, theater and concert tickets, etc.;
- most pensioners are ill and incapacitated, cannot leave their homes, and thus, feel lonely;
- many feel abandoned or deceived, because they toiled industriously in the hope of living their twilight years in comfort;
- they often do not want to burden their adult children, and thus, try to live as modestly as possible.
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Table 3.6 Municipal Home Care of the Elderly, 1994-1995 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 1995 | 1 January 1994 | |||||
| Home Care Necessary | Receive Home Care | Home Care Necessary | Receive Home Care | |||
| Number | % | Number | % | |||
| Total | 12579 | 7964 | 63.3 | 14491 | 7272 | 50.2 |
| In Riga | 1681 | 1379 | 82.0 | 4468 | 1103 | 24.7 |
| In Republic-level cities | 2634 | 1706 | 64.8 | 2425 | 1715 | 70.7 |
| In Rural Districts | 8264 | 4879 | 59.0 | 7598 | 4454 | 58.6 |
Both social aid service workers and contract employees provide home care. In rural areas, neighbors, acquaintances, postal service workers, Red Cross nurses, and pensioner's self-help groups provided free home care to around 1000 people. There are 34 homes for the elderly in Latvia serving 4657 residents with an average age of 73.5 years.
These measures have not been fully successful in promoting the integration of the elderly. The elderly must feel that they are needed and that they belong. Therefore, the emphasis should be not only on care, which highlights helplessness, but also on increasing independence. Alternative solutions here could be:
- widening the scope of services provided at home, thereby facilitating an independent life as long as possible;
- creation of "group homes" and "service apartments," where the elderly could live permanently, but receive extra services if necessary (e.g. medical care, help in household chores and personal hygiene);
- creation of "meeting halls" or clubs where the elderly could assemble, talk, read the press, watch TV, play table games, etc.;
- creation of a "senior labour service" to involve pensioners in providing services necessary for society, thereby creating the opportunity of earning supplemental income and developing self-esteem;
- wider involvement of able pensioners in volunteer work, such as visiting other pensioners, children's homes, kindergartens, etc.;
- organization of a pensioners' hot line to share impressions, problems, and obtaining information on solving concrete problems;
- organization of pensioners' self-help groups.
Former Prisoners
Legislation establishes social guarantees for persons discharged from prison: 1) they have the right to return to the housing space where they were registered before detention; 2) the right to receive social aid and benefits; 3) the right to be registered as unemployed, to obtain information on job vacancies, to receive job offers, to receive unemployment benefits constituting 70% of state- set salaries, to receive grants during vocational training and retraining, and to participate in salaried temporary social work. (for the age structure of prisoners, see Table 3.7).If the table below is unreadable, Click here to see preformatted version
| Table 3.7 Distribution of Convicted Prisoners by Age, 1990-1994 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | ||
| Up to 25 | Men | 2016 | 1884 | 1673 | 1545 | 1769 |
| Women | 89 | 56 | 47 | 37 | 49 | |
| 25-55 | Men | 4286 | 3914 | 3597 | 3214 | 4214 |
| Women | 273 | 199 | 290 | 116 | 216 | |
| 55+ | Men | 197 | 200 | 188 | 176 | 135 |
| Women | 15 | 17 | 3 | 15 | 7 | |
| Total | Men | 6494 | 5998 | 5458 | 4935 | 6116 |
| Women | 377 | 273 | 213 | 170 | 272 | |
In order to implement these rights, the person leaving prison must have all the necessary documents: a passport, a resident's registration code, and a residence record. A person discharged from prison receives a reference needed for obtaining passport and a 5 lat benefit (for the number of persons released from prison, see Table 3.8).
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| Table 3.8 Number of Prisoners Released, 1990-1994 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | |
| Men | 2917 | 2507 | 2431 | 2960 | 2299 |
| Women | 273 | 201 | 165 | 160 | 97 |
Thus, such people lack any means of subsistence and the possibility of realizing their rights. Former prisoners are at the mercy of the goodwill of civil servants. Unable to resolve their problems and find a means of subsistence, these persons often become repeat offenders and end up back in prison (see also Chapter 9. Rising Crime).
Prolonged isolation and the frequently inhumane environment in correctional facilities create additional problems that hinder adaptation to normal life and successful integration into society: low self-esteem, a negative attitude towards life, and a lack of faith in the future. The attitude of the public towards former prisoners is often negative as well: people avoid contact with them, employers do not hire them, etc. The problem of integration is complicated by the relatively low educational attainment of prisoners. Almost one fifth have incomplete primary education, one third have no profession, and two-thirds were jobless at the moment of arrest (see Table 3.9).
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| Table 3.9 Educational Attainment of Prisoners, 25 February 1995 | |
|---|---|
| Number of Convicted Prisoners | 6574 |
| Without an Education | 9 |
| Incomplete Primary | 51 |
| Primary (4 Grades) | 38 |
| Incomplete Elementary | 1375 |
| Elementary (9 Grades) | 909 |
| Incomplete Secondary | 868 |
| Secondary | 3010 |
| Special Secondary | 247 |
| Secondary Technical | 135 |
| Higher | 36 |
| Prisoners with One Specialty | 3392 |
| Prisoners with Several Specialties | 640 |
| Prisoners with No Specialty | 2543 |
| Had Work at the Time of Imprisonment | 2369 |
| Had No Work at the Time of Imprisonment | 4173 |