The Child Protection Centre (BAC) received more than 1,700 submissions regarding possible violations of children’s rights last year, nearly twice as many as the year before, the centre reports.
According to BAC’s 2024 public report, in 2024 the centre received and reviewed 92 official service reports and 679 submissions concerning possible violations of children’s rights, amounting to a total of 771 cases. The report for the previous year has not yet been published. In comparison, 811 submissions were received in 2023, while 627 submissions were recorded in 2022.
According to BAC, the growing number of submissions demonstrates both increasing public attention to child safety issues and the growing workload faced by specialists who make decisions affecting children’s futures on a daily basis.
BAC emphasises that under such circumstances, the timely involvement and action of every professional — social workers, teachers, police officers, medical staff, and representatives of orphan’s courts — can play a decisive role in a child’s life. Moreover, the centre notes that child protection depends not only on professionalism, but also on humanity and compassion. Even a seemingly simple decision, such as asking a child an additional question and seeking further clarification, can significantly affect a child’s well-being, trust, and future, BAC stresses.
Therefore,
on Thursday BAC launched the communication campaign Your Work Changes a Child’s Future
aimed at strengthening the professional confidence of specialists working within the system. On the opening day of the campaign, child protection professionals commuting to work at several locations in Riga were welcomed with words of encouragement and appreciation.
At the same time, BAC is inviting the public to share personal and inspiring stories about professionals whose actions, compassion, and involvement helped a child in a difficult situation. The centre encourages people to publish these stories on social media by tagging BAC and using the hashtag #BernaLaba.
The centre highlights that the need for a strong support network is reflected not only in the increasing number of legal submissions, but also in children’s and young people’s own self-assessments. According to a survey of Latvian schoolchildren conducted by BAC, although the majority of children are generally satisfied with their lives, a significant proportion regularly experience negative emotions. A majority — 55% of students — reported feeling worried always or often in their daily lives. One-third, or 35%, said they always or often feel depressed, while 37% reported regularly experiencing anxiety. Furthermore, 42% admitted that they practically never, or only rarely, know where to turn if problems arise at school. The survey was conducted in 2024 and included 8,286 respondents aged 11 to 19.
“This emotional background serves as an early warning signal.
It is essential that professionals in education, healthcare, and social services notice these behavioural changes in children in a timely manner and respond appropriately, as well as cooperate with other institutions when necessary,” BAC explains. Timely involvement of specialists is crucial to preventing emotional difficulties from having long-term effects on children’s emotional and physical health, academic achievements, social relationships, and ability to fully integrate into society in the future, the centre reminds.
BAC also stresses that the sustainability of the child protection system largely depends on the attitudes, understanding, professional confidence, and motivation of the specialists working within it to prioritise children’s interests in their daily work, rather than treating them merely as formal legal requirements.
“A child’s safety very often begins with one person who notices, listens, and refuses to remain indifferent. Behind every decision, phone call, conversation, or visit are professionals whose work requires not only knowledge, but also humanity, courage, and emotional resilience. Therefore, it is essential to continuously support the improvement of the knowledge and skills of specialists who help children feel safer every day and whose work, in reality, shapes the future of society as a whole,” says Inga Gulbe, Head of the Project Support Services Implementation Division at BAC’s Support Services Department.
Within the framework of the European Social Fund Plus project, BAC will organise a series of educational and support activities for specialists until 2030, aimed at improving their professional competence, strengthening professional confidence and sense of belonging within the field of child rights protection, and developing a unified approach among specialists to ensuring children’s participation.
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