Rehabilitation of Drug Addicted Offenders in Romania

Project facts

• Funder: Ministry of Foreign Affairs – MPAP, Reclassering Nederland
• Partner(s): Reclassering Nederland, Centrum maliebaan, National Anti-drug Agency, Romanian Ministry of Justice, Probation department of the Ministry of Justice, General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police, National Administration of Penitentiaries of the Ministry of Justice, General Prosecution Office, National Institute of Magistracy
• Project period: April 2010- March 2012
• For information mail to: office@nhc.nl

A worrisome development in Romania is that the number of crimes related to drug use is increasing. The Romanian government wants to deal with this situation by improving the rehabilitation services for drug addicted offenders. The NHC and the Dutch Probation Services had cooperated with the Romanian authorities before, in the framework of a previous project, and this is an issue with which the Netherlands has extensive experience. In setting up a national rehabilitation system for drug addicted offenders, Romania would therefore benefit from gaining insight in the Dutch cooperation structure.

A cooperation model for the approach towards drug addicted offenders had already been drafted in 2009, in the framework of a previous project. The current project was designed to implement that model as a pilot in Bucharest. The NHC and the Dutch Probation Service (Reclassering Nederland) aimed to create an integrated rehabilitation system for drug addicted offenders who receive alternative sanctions to imprisonment. The project was implemented by a working group consisting professionals from the work floor and of all participating institutions, together with Dutch experts.

The project improved the access to substitution treatment for drug addicted offenders. They do not need to commit (petty) crimes anymore without the need to pay for their addiction. Furthermore, a network is now organised around the offender to allow him to rehabilitate in society. The network starts to operate when the offender is caught and continues to work throughout the steps that follow. This new system should help offenders to integrate into society instead of becoming reoffending criminals.