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During Februrary our Child Advisory Board (CAB) began visiting the institutions where experts work with children involved in judicial proceedings. First, we visited the County Court of Zagreb and then the Child and Youth Protection Centre of Zagreb. Also, we visited Brave Phone’s office and got a chance to talk to volunteers at the helplines. While talking to the experts, the members of the CAB got a chance to get answers to different questions they had – how does the approach to children look like, how to adults talk to children in these institutions and how does the process look like. They also had a chance to share their opinions and give suggestions about dealing with children and young people.
At the County Court of Zagreb we were welcomed by senior experts Iva Kero and Matea Babić who showed us the courtroom and the room for forensic interviewing of children. They also shared their experience in working with children and youth as part of court proceedings. At the Child and Youth Protection Centre of Zagreb we were welcomed by a psychologist Mia Roje who also shared her previous experience of volunteering at Brave Phone.
Members themselves have also written how they felt about the visits:
Before going to the Child and Youth Protection Centre we were very upset about the visit because some of has had previously been coming there to talk about our problems. Before going to the Centre, we were defiant because some of the people who talked to us there did not have such a warm, real conversation with us. It was very difficult for us to go to attend these appointments because we had to talk to several people about some very painful topics. But, after a while, we have somehow changed our opinion about some of the experts there and would like to thank them for some nice conversations that we had together. The psychologist who spoke with us at the Centre was a very nice and communicative person and it was nice that she listened to us. This visit was beneficial for us as well as the one to Brave Phone’s office. We were surprised by the number of children calling the helpline and the number of “fake” calls. We are also very grateful that our group leaders took us for lunch after those visits.
Child Advisory Board is one of the activites of the project Alternative Ways to Address Youth (AWAY). Here you can read the latest news about the project.
