Support Centre for Sexually Abused Children Vilnius, Lithuania

This support centre is the only one in the Baltic states which provides specialized, complex service for sexually abused children and their family members.

The main goals of the Support Centre are: Lessen the negative effects on the child after the abuse; To create and ensure safe environment for children, where they would receive all the help they need from different specialists under the same roof; To promote child friendly approach and environment; To promote multidisciplinary and interagency service; To ensure high professional standards.

Who are providers of the Support Centre's services?

Children from birth to 18 years who: Are suspected to be victims of sexual abuse; Are victims of sexual abuse (proven by the court); Are suspected to be an abusers themselves; Family members of abused child; Specialists who are working with children (such as social workers, child protection service specialists, teachers, police officers and others) and need training.

Who can arrange child arrival to the Support Centre?

Prosecutors; Police officers; Parents / guardians; Child rights protection service specialists;

What kind of services child can get at the Support Centre?

Temporary accommodation (for children and their non- violent parents/guardians); Psychological assessment of the child; Psychological counseling; Provision of long term treatment recommendations; Forensic medical examination; Forensic Interviewing; Counseling of social worker;

Support centre is working 24 hour, 7 day per week so children can be accepted here at any time; Usually, children stay for three days, if necessary, longer; They can stay alone or with parents / guardians; There are 10 sleeping places.

Interagency collaboration (I) In order to lessen the negative effects on the child after the abuse the Support Centre focus on interdisciplinary collboration with various institutions: Child rights protection service; Police; Pre – trial investigators; Judges, prosecutors; Health Services; Various organizations that provide services for families and children in crisis.

Interagency collaboration (II) In 2017 the Support Centre signed cooperation agreements with: - Children‘s Hospital, Affiliate of Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos „Providing out-patient healthcare services and consultation“. - The State Forensic Medicine Service „Providing forensic medicine services“. There were interdisciplinary meetings organised by the Support Centre in order to ensure the smooth interagency collaboration. Specialists from different fields participated in them.

When child leaves the Support Centre: Support Centre specialists present: Conclusion of child psychological assessement; Individual long term recommendations for child; The Centre does not supervise further condition and treatment of a child. Support Centre specialists can supervise other specialists working with children or participate in interagency meetings if needed.

Forensic interviews in Support Centre

There is one well equipped child interrogation room in the Support Center where child can be interviewed.

There are well trained psychologists in the Support Center who can participate in the interviewing process. They are continuously improving their qualifications and attending supervisions in order to maintain high professional standards.

The main goal of child’s forensic interviews is to: Ensure that the child would be interviewed only once, in order to lessen the negative effects on him or her after the abuse. Also, to ensure that child wouldn’t be traumatized by the court proceedings.

Types of forensic interview There are two types of forensic interviews that can be conducted in the Support Center: Local; Remote.

Local forensic interview (I) Local forensic interview - when all the participants of court proceeding attend to the Support Centre. There is a special – observation room – where everyone can see child and psychologist through big monitor.

Local forensic interview (II) During local forensic interviews the main goal is to protect children from meeting the offender; There are two entrances to the Support Centre: one for the child and the other one for the offender; The Support Centre ensures that the child wouldn’t see or hear other participants of the court proceedings;

Remote forensic interview Remote forensic interview – when child and psychologist are in our Support Centre and participate in an interview here while other participants gather in the courtroom somewhere else. In this case interview is conducted via video conference. It is the most popular in the Support Centre.

Child-friendly interviewing room Small, cozy, informal and as neutral as possible; Ensures intimacy through sound- proof doors; Ensures the feeling of privacy and meets children's needs; There is also possibility to make audio and video recordings of the interview.

Preparation for the forensic interview

The time of the interview The time of the interview depends on the child: interests, age, stage of development.

Time when the interview can be done Support Centre is open 24/7; Based on the General Prosecutor recommendations interviews are usually conducted during day-time; Emergency cases.

Information about the child The psychologist must prepare before each forensic interview In this step all the accessible information regarding the child and the case is gathered. Importance of interagency collaboration; Psychologist who will be conducting the interview has to arrange all the details of the interview and a child’s condition beforehand with the pre-trial investigator or the prosecutor.

How to prepare child for the forensic interview It is important to prepare the child for the interview. Sometimes psychologist has to spend 1-2 days to prepare the child, to help them to deal with all of their emotions, because it’s not easy to reveal the facts about the experienced harm. Psychologist explains everything to a child about the process, their rights, and how everything will be going on. Psychologist answers to any questions the child have related to pending interview. Before interview camera and ear prop are shown for the child.

The interviewing psychologist has to (be): Warm and supportive; Neutral in tone; Use of developmentally appropriate language; Respectful; Listen without interruption; Avoid specific questions; Keep questions as open as possible; Seeking clarifications of child terms. When the interview is over, the psychologist provides aftercare for the child so they can calm down and recover psychologically.

CONTACT INFORMATION E-mail address: info@uzuoveja.lt Phone numbers: Gytė Bėkštienė + 370 678 24965, Director Lilija Skulskienė + 370 607 82811, Deputy Director 24/7 specialists + 370 675 19244; + 370 675 59443 Psychologists + 370 618 77520; + 370 600 75189