At the beginning of June, a new programme was launched at our Foundation: in cooperation with the Probation Service of the Ministry of Administration and Justice, we became involved in the reparative and community service of juveniles and young adults involved in the commission of minor crimes.

The programme dates back to the end of 2010, when we were approached by the Probation Service asking for our cooperation in an initiative that was a first in Hungary. The request sounded exciting from the very first hearing, as it allowed us to get involved in the practice of a novel method with many positive effects on society, which meant experience, learning and development for us as well. In the context of this cooperation, we are therefore hosting young people who have been sentenced by the Public Prosecutor's Office to reparation work or by the courts to community service. The first step was to find out exactly what these concepts mean. The staff of the Service were a great help in finding out:

A public interest work a form of punishment, usually imposed by court order on offenders of lesser offences, under which the prisoner is required to serve at least one day a week in a workplace designated by the court. By working, he indirectly compensates the community for the damage caused by his crime, but if he fails to comply with this obligation, the community service is replaced by imprisonment in prison.

A reparations is a measure decided by the prosecution, not the court. Once criminal proceedings have started, the prosecution can decide to postpone the prosecution and impose a reparation measure on the offender. This is similar to community service, in which the person concerned makes good the damage caused by their crime by working for the public good. When determining the reparation activities, it is important to ensure that the work imposed is directly linked to the nature of the offence committed (e.g. those convicted of graffiti or vandalism are involved in removing graffiti or cleaning public sculptures). If the person concerned fails to comply with the obligation imposed, charges are brought and the court passes sentence.

The first reparation recipient came to our Foundation in June 2011, and was ordered to do 30 hours of reparation work for illegal software purchases, including data entry, newsletter editing and other computer work. At the first interview, which the young person attended with his probation officer, we agreed on the details of the work after mutual introductions. However, after a positive start, a darker episode followed: the young person, who was otherwise a good student, did not turn up at the agreed times, did not keep in touch with his probation officer, and therefore had to be subjected to a more severe sanction.

But the incident did not dampen our spirits! Unfortunately, due to bad upbringing, an unstable family background or environment, lack of education and other reasons, there will always be juveniles who are unfit to take responsibility, but we are trying to help them as much as we can. We hope to be able to introduce the offenders sentenced to our Foundation to a way of life with solid moral and spiritual values, which can serve as a model and alternative for them, where they can work as part of a committed, mutually respectful, peaceful community, with our volunteers and chaplains, and experience that they are capable of doing useful work that has a positive impact on the community. It is hoped that in the longer term, this will contribute to making this approach of respect for life, honesty, compassion, compassion, truth-telling, hard work, etc., part of their lives and to making them useful and active members of society.