PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES /CHILD PERPETRATOR SUPPORT UNIT
OBJECTIVES:
- to
ensure that members of the public benefit from quality psychological
service with the aim to improve the psychological wellbeing of clients
referred to the ministry;
- To
ensure effective psychological service delivery at the level of the
various departments of the ministry through proper monitoring and
evaluation of such services;
- To
respond to requests from relevant stakeholders in respect of
psychological services such as court ordered psychological evaluation
or treatment services in line with the mandate of the ministry .
- To
cater for the psychological needs of juvenile offenders and provide
appropriate psychological treatment programmes designed and targeted to
assist child perpetrators to develop skills to reduce reoffending.
- To
attend to requests from different stakeholders namely the DPP and the
Judiciary with respect to forensic psychological evaluation of juvenile
offenders,child victims/witnesses and perpetrators of domestic
violence.
- To provide Pretrial support and post trial follow up for minors involved in court proceedings
- research and development of evidenced based psychological interventions
- continuous professional development of professionals of the Ministry.
- Assisting in formulation of policies and legislations
- Designing and conducting training programs for officers working in the department and stakeholders
,taking into consideration their specific training needs. and training
of staff and stakeholders who deal with child victims/witnesses and
juvenile offenders.
- Advising other stakeholders namely the DPP ,the police and the judicial system on psycholegal issues
TARGET GROUP:
- Child perpetrators/victims/witnesses under 18
- victims of genderbased violence[adults]
- Perpetrators of genderbased violence[adults]
- Couples in conflicts
- Adult and children suffering from other mental health issues.
Areas of intervention and Services offered:
- Assessment of criminal responsibility, risk assessment& competency to stand trial
- Psychodiagnosis
& Psychotherapeutic treatment ; Provide assessment, psychological
treatment and risk management for child perpetrators with personality
disorder etc
- research related to behavioural change techniques.
- Psychological treatment services for child victims/witness and adult victims.
- advising on legislation, policies on matters related to juvenile offenders and their rehabilitation
- Implementing policy decisions related to psychological assistance/support of juvenile offenders.
- Ensuring that risk strategies are consistent with evidence-based practice
- Work towards Relapse prevention
- Providing
pretrial support and post trial follow up for victims /witnesses [child
and adult]involved in court proceedings [new project]
- psycholegal interventions in terms of custody evaluation
- provision of expert witness testimony in child abuse cases
- facilitating the interview process[criminal investigation] involving child victims/witnesses.
Mechanism in place
17 psychologists are attached to this section under the technical supervision of senior most psychologist/senior psychologist.
A
pooling exercise has been carried out with the aim to provide an
integrated approach when effecting psychological interventions to
children and families.
One psychologist has been assigned cases of juvenile offenders referred by relevant stakeholders.[police,DPP etc]
Amongst 20, 2 psychologist have resigned from the ministry and one is on leave without pay till October 2020.