Over 2,000 convicts aided by Gomel oblast social adaptation centre in last 10 years
Over the last 10 years more than 2,000 convicts have received aid of the Gomel oblast social adaptation centre. The institution was one of the first of the kind in Belarus to be set up in Gomel in February 1997.
Deputy head of the crime prevention division of Gomel oblast police department Anatoliy Vasilyev told BelTA, the centre is the only one of the kind in the oblast. The centre caters for ex-inmates, who have no friends or relatives and need to restore their social status, documents. A hall of residence provides accommodation to the ex-convicts while their problems are resolved. The centre can accommodate 21 people. Besides, the centre also provides jobs to able-bodied people. Elderly people receive aid in getting accommodations in retirement homes for lonely elderly.
Every year the centre helps 150-200 applicants. Men over 40 with two and more convictions prevail in the number of clients. As a rule, most of them need their citizenship confirmed, passports and military IDs restored, pensions arranged.
The source underlined, over the ten years the institution had proved its effectiveness. Statistics of the recent years shows that people aided by the centre no longer have troubles with police. Anatoliy Vasilyev added, they are considering the possibility of setting up similar facilities in large towns of the oblast.
