The reaction of the Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, to the detention of an official of the Center for Social Work in Pristina, has prompted the reaction of the Association of Centers for Social Work. This association said it was worried by "statements and political pressure and interventions by the Ministry of Justice".
On Friday, the Basic Prosecutor's Office in Pristina announced the detention of two PSC officials on suspicion of abusing their official position. The two officials, with the initials VM, according to the announcement of the Prosecutor's Office, allegedly employed about 10 people illegally and that they hired one of these people as a manager to handle a case of sexual violence, "despite the fact that the employee did not had fulfilled the legal conditions to handle such a sensitive case".
A few hours after the Prosecution's announcement, the Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, wrote on Facebook that on July 13, she had notified the persons responsible that the person designated as a manager for handling a case of sexual violence, "was not licensed by the Ministry of Justice".
"I appreciate the serious handling of this case by the police and the prosecution. Every public official, like us, has the obligation to implement the responsibilities according to the legislation in force, and especially in cases where minor children are concerned. The centers for social work will have our support, but we will not tolerate any violations", Haxhiu wrote on Friday.
In a reaction on Saturday, the Association of Centers for Social Work said that Haxhiu's approach "could be a dangerous precedent for the future of the professional work of professional workers of social services and PSCs".
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The association has asked the justice mechanisms to deal independently and without interference in the case of the detention of the PSC officials in Pristina.
The association further presented the challenges faced by the PSCs, accusing Minister Haxhiu that "she should take care of the fulfillment of her obligations towards the responsibilities she has and not to take and attack individuals of the PSCs in such a way".
PSCs have complained that they have a lack of human resources, logistics, financial means for providing services and they have said that they have expressed all of this in meetings at all levels.
"The Association of PSCs has continuously expressed its concerns, from the dissolution of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, the reorganization of the Department for Social Policy, where we have expressed and assessed that all these have damaged the approach to drafting social policies and strengthening the general social welfare system in a continuous manner. For over a year, the composition of the General Council for Social and Family Services, which mechanism is responsible for handling requests and licensing individual social service providers, has not been consolidated, which responsibility has fallen to the line Minister to fulfill. As a result, many family service providers from the public and non-governmental sector have been waiting for more than a year and are still waiting for licenses for service providers", says the reaction of the PSC Association.
PSCs have also complained about the non-finalization of the draft law on social and family services, the non-finalization of administrative instructions and the non-approval of the internal regulation for the organization and systematization of the department.
"The Ministry of Justice should take care to help the PSC before attacking, strongly advocate for the passage of the Law on Local Government Finances, which provides for a specific grant for social services, which means finance for efficient and qualitative services. It should restore the social services law to the legislative agenda and clearly define the standards for the engagement of social workers with the specifics and indicators per capita", says the reaction.
The Association of PSCs has said that Haxhiu's statements were followed by lynchings and threats against officials. He asked Haxhiu "that until the Courts confirm the legal violations, he should be careful with public statements because it may endanger the lives of the persons in question and for this he bears responsibility".
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"Ms. Haxhiu and others in political positions should understand that the exercise of influence for the management of professional subjects is strictly prohibited by the Law on Social and Family Services. Ms. Haxhiu's approach to the case should be comprehensive and not seek selective justice", the reaction says.
In the end, the PSCs have requested the reflection of all parties in the system, both central and local.
