Children as young as 14 using cocaine in state care, minister warns

Local childrendrugssocial welfareTop News Children as young as 14 using cocaine in state care, minister warns Boy Child Sad People 189e65 1024 Relevant News Children as young as 14 using cocaine in state care, minister warns 14 September 2026 Stagnant water near GSP turns into mosquito breeding ground, Strovolos residents say 14 September 2026 India approves export of power to Nepal after deadly flood 14 September 2026 Despoina Psyllou 14 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Serious gaps and problems in how the state manages children in its care and protection were reported to the House Human Rights Committee. Minors aged 14 to 17 have been placed in a closed programme due to cocaine and crystal meth use, while serious incidents of delinquency, neglect and repeated escapes from care facilities have also been recorded. The committee chairman, Christos Christofidis, cited two specific incidents that brought the issue to public attention. In December 2025, video from a care facility showed a child standing outside it, crying, calling for help, asking for their mother and pleading to be let back in. He also raised a more serious case: “three minor sisters who left a children’s home on June 30, 2026. The girls, aged 14, 15 and 17, were prosecution witnesses in a serious case of abuse spanning several years, with the accused being members of their own family. One returned earlier, while the other two were found after nine days.” Acknowledging the difficulties and gaps in the current system, Deputy Minister of Social Welfare Tina Pavlou proposed creating secure treatment facilities for children with heightened needs, noting that around 400 minors are currently under state care. Tina Pavlou: We need safe treatment facilities “We are all responsible for these children, who today number 400. I want to lay out the serious gaps my Deputy Ministry has committed to fixing. We are at a critical juncture, as these children today also face the challenges of modern society. I’m not sure we are meeting the needs of 2026,” Pavlou said. One major gap, she said, is a lack of clarity over who is responsible for these deeply traumatised children, adding that Mental Health Services should hold that responsibility. She said some children under care, now teenagers, continue to run away, and argued that weekly counselling sessions will never solve the problem for children prone to running away. “We need safe treatment facilities, where a teenager with a tendency to run away would stay for a period of 60 to 120 days. This isn’t something we’ve invented, it’s a practice used abroad too,” she said, adding: “Children run away because they feel some kind of void left by their families. They’re searching for love, and end up getting hurt even more.” After a stay of 90 to 120 days in these treatment facilities, Pavlou said, responsibility would pass to the other services the state already provides. “We’re not talking about hospitalisation, or the accommodation we already offer. We want to bring the two together, because if we don’t, I think we’ll stay stuck where we are,” she said. She stressed that Mental Health Services are understaffed and that monthly or even weekly sessions are not enough. Maria Kyratzi, Director of Social Welfare Services, said over 65% of children in care live with foster families, 11% in semi-independent living, and 24% in institutions. “Children are placed according to criteria that take into account whether they have siblings, their age, their circumstances and other factors,” she said. Kyratzi said there had been improvement: in 2021, 38 children showed a tendency to run away, compared with 5 in 2025. She also said there is prejudice in society, and that no community has responded positively to the creation of independent-living homes in their area. “A number of these children show signs of delinquency, substance use and other issues,” she said, adding that many of the children were not attending school or had pending legal matters. Cocaine and crystal meth use On drug use among children under state protection, the committee heard that the problem is visible. Drawing on her previous role, Pavlou said that in 2025, of the 17 minors in the Agia Skepi programme, six were under state care. These were children aged 14 to 17 who, besides cannabis, were using cocaine and crystal meth. They were out of school and receiving home schooling instead. “None of them refused to go to school,” Pavlou said, adding that they were looking for an opportunity. 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