On October 28th, during the afternoon period, it was carried out a visit to the Educational Centre of Santo António, in Oporto. At the time of the visit, the educational centre lodged 21 male youngsters (14 to 17 years old), four of them in open regime, 13 in semi-open regime and four in closed regime. The educational centre has three main buildings: residential (three units), administrative and the workshops. The residential units hosts the youngsters according to their level of skills acquisition and to the conditions laid down by the courts for the implementation of its decisions. It follows that the youths in unit 1 are in open regime, in unit 2 in closed regime and in unit 3 in semi open regime. The buildings of the educational centre have good maintenance and upkeep. Also, there is a fire emergency plan and the mechanisms of alert and alarm are in place, following an intervention that took place in 2005. Ramps and bathrooms for persons with reduced mobility are also available The young persons are still below the minimum school leaving age, with the possibility of attending classes or professional training outside the educational centre, in open or semi-open regime, depending on their progress and assessment. The youngsters have been assigned a family physician from an Operational Health Unit. Their access to consultations is ensured whether they are scheduled or not, therefore allowing for the continuity of medical care. From June 1st, 2015, a nurse works at the visited institution four times a week, in the mornings. At the same time, the educational centre provides for an individual psychotherapeutic intervention for those who need it, following an initial diagnostic evaluation, conducted by a psychologist in a space specially designed to that purpose. When necessary (that is the case of eleven youths) psychology and psychiatric consultations are available at a Hospital. Parental participation is encouraged. Contacts are held, as a rule, on a weekly basis, in the recreation space. The schedule is flexible. Parents take part in the educational centre daily activities, especially in what concerns the Personal Education Project The food is prepared within the institution, though in outsourcing regime. The kitchen and the cleanliness of utensils were checked. Each unit has a dining hall. The youngsters did not express any reservations as far as quantity and quality of food were concerned. There was no notice of serious disciplinary problems, though sporadic cases were acknowledged. The disciplinary enforcement measures are those defined in the internal regulations. Units 1 and 2 have rooms appropriated for solitary confinement, which were checked. As far as it concerns the healthy and dynamic framework in which the relationship between workers and the young persons takes place attention should be drawn, on one hand, to the reading habits among the youngsters. Almost all of them are part of the reading programs designed by the educational centre (v.g., the «Furious Reading» project); 42 |