Public Policy Measure
The placement of the young person in an Educational Centre, by order of the court, is one of the institutional measures provided for in the Tutelary Educational Law.
There are different types of institutional measures, depending on their objectives and the stage of the process:
– In the pre-sentencing phase: Precautionary Guardianship Measure; Internment for Personality Expertise; Detention Measure.
– In the post-sentencing phase: Internment.
The measure of internment in an educational centre aims to provide the young person, through temporary removal from their usual environment and the use of educational programmes and methods, with the internalisation of values that conform to the law and the acquisition of resources that will enable them to lead their lives in a socially and legally responsible manner in the future. The internment measure can take place in an open, semi-open or closed regime.
The Educational Centres have an Educational Intervention Project (PIE) that defines the phased and progressive programming of the intervention, differentiating the objectives to be achieved at each stage and the respective system of positive and negative reinforcement, within the limits set by the General and Disciplinary Regulations of the Educational Centres.
This public policy measure is regulated by Law no. 166/99 of 14 September, in its current version, which approves the Educational Guardianship Law, and by Decree-Law no. 323-D/2000 of 20 December, which approves the General and Disciplinary Regulations for Educational Centres.