Launch of the project for the reintegration of young people in conflict with the law

Monday 24 May 2021

How to help minors in conflict with the law to reintegrate into society after release from detention centers? CESIE’s Skills4Life project will develop a holistic educational program that looks at the emotional, psychological and social needs of minors in conflict with the law to help them achieve autonomy and reduce the risk of recidivism

On May 5th 2021 CESIE participated, together with the other European partners, in the first meeting of Skills 4 Life – Life Skills 4 Life After Prison: Sowing the Seeds of Social Inclusion for Young Offenders.

The Skills4Life project is mainly aimed at ex-offenders and young offenders that are about to be released from detention facilities or communities for minors. The project aims to offer them tools for personal, relational and social growth that are useful for them to permanently reintegrate into society, counteracting the widespread risk of recidivism. In fact, in Europe, 75% of young people released from detention facilities and 68% of young people who leave communities for minors return to committing crimes within a year. This data demonstrates the poor rehabilitation capacity of detention facilities and communities for minors who are often unable to offer sufficient opportunities and tools for personal growth. Scientific research also demonstrates the importance of overcoming static conceptions of “criminal identities” and offering youths the opportunity to renegotiate their identities, allowing them to choose different paths and roles for their future.

During the 26 months of the project, the consortium aims to fill these gaps in the prison education system by expanding the training resources available and enhancing the skills of the educational staff. Specifically, the project intends to develop the Skills4Life Curriculum: an innovative educational program for the development of social, relational and organizational skills of young people in conflict with the law that will help them analyze the social contexts of origin and destination, explore their emotional responses, build healthy relationships, plan and organize their lives effectively. In support of the Skills4Life Curriculum, educational material will also be developed: an illustrated manual, a Guide for Educators and other digital materials. The training program will be built on the basis of preliminary research conducted in various local contexts, and will then be tested in eight detention facilities and / or communities for European minors with 80 young people in conflict with the law. The final aim of the project is to formalize and disseminate this methodology so that it can be adapted and implemented in other contexts, thus multiplying its impact on the life paths of young prisoners throughout Europe.

The first meeting offered the partnership the opportunity to plan the next steps starting from the first phase of the project: a research in the local contexts on the educational needs of young people in custody that are close to release , which will guide the content creation for the training program.

The project, funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Commission, is implemented by a consortium of 5 organizations from different European countries: France, Norway, United Kingdom, Greece and Italy. CESIE will contribute to the production of all contents and materials, to the pilot phase, and will guide the internal evaluation of the project.