In December 2020, the Human
Rights Defender's Office paid an unannounced monitoring visit to the “Kharberd
Specialized Orphanage”, a state non-commercial organization.
The results of the
monitoring, including the identified issues were analyzed in detail and summarized:
the proposed solutions were sent to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of
Armenia and the head of the specialized orphanage in Kharberd.
The identified systemic issues
are presented below:
• The competent staff
of the institution noted that no records on restraint measures application are kept,
as no restraint measures are applied in the institution in practice. This
argument is unacceptable. First, during the visit of the Defender's staff, an
application of a special measure was fixed. Besides that, the institution (as a
state non-commercial organization licensed to provide psychiatric medical care),
is obliged to guarantee the legal requirements for the application of restraint
measures in each case, including keeping the records. Therefore, it is
necessary to introduce and properly keep records on restraint measure applications,
as well as guidelines with the aim of human rights protection and exercising oversight
over the process.
• Due
to the closed quarantine regime, the provision of in-depth specialized services
(for example, a psychologist, speech therapist, etc.) has significantly
decreased, which negatively affected the students’ health. Meanwhile, according
to the staff, the positive dynamics of the mental and physical health of some
of the students was possible as a result of long-standing, regular, and consistent
activities. Therefore, it is necessary to envisage additional rules for
ensuring the regular, unhindered provision of in-depth specialized services
within in the institution.
• The
current process of assessing students’ needs does not ensure that the services are
genuine and personalized, as there are no guidelines or other regulations for
relevant professionals. Only in this case, it will be possible to demonstrate
an individual approach to each student, revealing the development opportunities
and actual needs only in such conditions.
• There
are no minimum standards and methodological guidelines for forming student
groups. For example, according to the staff, for including a student in a
particular group, it is important that the governess of a specific group is
able or ready to take care of the student’s hygiene. As a result, in practice, the
student groups are formed for facilitating the daily care of students but not
for identifying each student’s development opportunities and facilitating their
implementation. The lack of the mentioned criteria and their implementation methodology
complicates the work of the heads of the institution.
• There
are no targeted employment programs for adult students: as a result, the
professional capacity-building trainings organized within the institution do
not ensure that students are able to acquire life skills. Therefore, it is
necessary to develop and implement programs that will create real opportunities
for students to exercise their right to an independent life. During the visit,
the employment issue of the students was also raised by adult students, the
staff and the head of the institution.
• Certain
group rooms are overcrowded, while the current division of the bedrooms and
playrooms does not always provide a real opportunity for rest, respect for the
independent and private life of the students, and for the implementing rights.
• Minors and adult students jointly reside in the same
group rooms, while the bedrooms are not separated based on gender. The latter
is especially unacceptable, considering that the round-the-clock coexistence of
the male and female students in the same rooms of care institutions, including
the child care institutions does not ensure the needs common to specific
lifestyles (based on the age-related, behavioral, and physiological
characteristics of the students). It is important to consider that, for
example, a minor female student cannot spend the night in the same bedroom with
an adult male student or use the same bathroom from the perspective of respect
for private life.
• The
number of the specialists working with the students, including the number of
the governesses, is not sufficient for the more effective organization of the
work, which has a negative impact on the guaranteeing the rights of both the
students and the employees.
• The
remuneration of the employees of the institution does not correspond to the
volume of the work that is required and carried out by them. This and other
related issues have been studied at the Human Rights Defender’s Office, and proposals
were prepared and sent been sent to the competent state body.
The mentioned issues are
systemic in nature; they have been accumulated over the years, and are the
result of the incomplete fulfillment of the positive obligations of the state. The
current issues are solved due to the good faith of the employees of the
institution. Meanwhile, the state is obliged to introduce mechanisms, that will
fully and equally guarantee the rights of persons with disabilities. This requirement
is even more urgent when the issues concern the guarantees for the rights of
the persons under the care of the state.
The Human Rights Defender
also finds it important to record the following positive developments:
• An equine-assisted
therapy (rehabilitation method through therapeutic riding) is implemented for
the students, which has an important effect on the psychological health of the
students, and the development of motor impulses.
• The
technical issues related to the supportive measures of the students and
wheelchairs are solved by attracting external financial support, and in certain
cases, even by the means of the employees. The negative side is the fact that
the process of allocating public funds for this purpose is not effective.
• The students of the institution
participate in various groups, such as recreational, handicraft, etc., as well
as for courses for the development of professional skills. The necessary items
of these activities are provided by the private or international programs
implemented by the institution.
• Although
the financial resources provided by the state are scarce, the necessary amount
of hygienic and care items for adequate sanitary and hygienic condition of the
institution, is obtained via the institution’s cooperation with benefactors and
private organizations.
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