2026-09-17
The 2026 autumn report on the implementation of recommendations, published by the National Audit Office, notes that some of the most significant changes over the past six months have been achieved in the field of social protection. Following the implementation of high importance audit recommendations, more support is now being provided to children without parental care and their carers, while support for people who have experienced domestic violence has become more accessible and integrated.
“The fact that the share of children in care within a family environment has reached almost 83 percent, while specialised support for victims of violence has increased fourfold, demonstrates the maturity of the state, the consistent efforts of state and municipal institutions, and a responsible approach to implementing audit recommendations. These are not reforms on paper, but real solutions that are changing people’s lives,” says Auditor General Irena Segalovičienė.
State support has encouraged people to feel more confident about fostering older children and children with disabilities
One of the most important objectives in the field of child care remains the aim of ensuring that more children who have been deprived of parental care are brought up not in care institutions, but in a safe, family-like environment. In implementing the recommendations of the National Audit Office’s 2022 audit “Ensuring the rights and interests of the child in the child care and adoption”, the basic package of family services has been supplemented with specialised support from foster care centres, aimed not only at the children themselves but also at foster carers, emergency foster carers and adoptive parents.
At the same time, support for foster families has been strengthened: the level of income required to maintain a participant has been increased, and foster families caring for or looking after more than six children are now permitted to have three participants rather than two. Furthermore, a new form of care has been established – permanent carers who are able to care for a child with whom they have no family ties.
These decisions have yielded tangible results: the proportion of children in temporary and permanent care within a family environment rose to 82.8 percent in 2025 (in 2021, this stood at 77 percent), while the share of children looked after by emergency foster carers rose from 4 percent to 5.8 percent. The measures implemented encouraged more people to foster or adopt older children, children with disabilities or health problems, as well as siblings. The share of such children growing up in a family environment rose from 67.8 percent (in 2021) to 72 percent (in 2025).
Support was provided to 82 percent of victims of violence who were reported to the police
Significant progress has also been made in providing support to victims of domestic violence. Through consistent efforts to raise public awareness, according to a survey by the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, the share of the population aware of the activities of specialised integrated assistance centres (SKPC) rose from 12 percent (2021) to 28 percent (2024). To further increase this awareness, three further awareness-raising campaigns were launched from the start of 2026 to help people recognise various forms of violence, while training programmes were introduced for public sector staff and SKPC employees to enable them to refer individuals more quickly to the services where they would receive the necessary support.
Taking into account the recommendations of the National Audit Office’s 2022 audit, “Performance of crisis management, specialized assistance centres”, legislation has been amended to enable the SKPC and other support organisations to share the necessary data, making it easier for individuals to access all the support they require. Requirements should also be established for the premises of support centres to ensure that support is physically accessible and that counsellors help individuals choose the most appropriate form of support.
The results of these changes are reflected in a significant increase in the number of people receiving support. In 2022, 22 percent of individuals in respect of whom the police had received reports of domestic violence received specialised, integrated support. By 2025, this figure has risen to 82 percent.
Support from various specialists has also become more accessible: the share of people who received at least one legal consultation rose from 10 percent to 18 per percent, while the share of people who received legal assistance remotely increased more than fivefold – from 4 per percent (in 2022) to 22 percent (in 2025). The share of people who received a live consultation with a psychologist at the centre increased from 29 percent (in 2021) to 40 percent (in 2025).
The National Audit Office monitors the implementation of recommendations on an ongoing basis and actively cooperates with the audited entities following the audit. Up-to-date information on the status of the implementation of recommendations is published on the National Audit Office’s website: Open Data | National Audit Office of the Republic of Lithuania. A report on the status of the implementation of recommendations is submitted to the Seimas and published twice a year – in March and September. What changes are taking place in Lithuania and where risks arise, based on data collected by the National Audit Office, can also be monitored using the tool Public Sector Progress and Risk Dashboard.