LATVIA: 29 Social rehabilitation projects are supported from ESF

Within framework of the projects it is planned to provide social rehabilitation services for free for about 1100 people. Though beneficiaries will be much more since developed rehabilitation programs will continue also after end of the projects. Approved projects will offer social rehabilitation to people that belong to some social exclusion risk group. These are people who lack skills for successful life in their contemporary social and work life. Among beneficiaries there will be inmates and persons released from imprisonment, people with addiction problems, minor pregnant women, people with disabilities, tenants of social homes, young people from orphanages and other target groups. On possibilities to apply for these services one may turn to project implementers. While the State probation Centre has intended to work with persons released from imprisonment whose failures are related to difficulties of information perception. For them there will be elaborated training materials in easy language that will help to process the documents, solve issues related to place of residence, to acquire skills that are necessary for life outside the imprisonment as well as to educate and look for a job. Projects will be launched in autumn after signing of the contract. Total length of the project lasts until 30 months. Most of the projects ? altogether 11 ? will implement non-governmental organizations, 10 projects ? local governments and their structural units, 7 projects ? state institutions and one project will be implemented by a company. This is the second time when tender under ESF program “Development and implementation of social rehabilitation programs? takes place. During the first turn that took place in summer 2005 there were approved 36 projects.