Families in Liepāja Can Now Officially Sign a Contract with Peace and Quiet

Liepāja Social Services announces a revolutionary innovation - now families can officially hire people to do what they already do every day, only with a document-certified guarantee that it's not running away from responsibility.

The respite service, which sounds like something from a luxury spa menu, is actually an official opportunity for families with dependents to hand over these duties to professionals for up to 30 days per year. The municipality has allocated 30 thousand euros for this, which is roughly the same as what one cup of coffee costs in downtown Rīga.

"In the deinstitutionalization project, 30 families per year used this service," says Social Services representative Gunta Jākobsone. "Now we hope there will be even more, because everyone is tired and wants to rest." In South Kurzeme region, however, only one family has shown interest so far, which suggests that either everyone there is very patient, or they simply don't know they can ask for help.

To receive the service, you need to contact Social Services, which is a bit like going to the CSDD - lots of documents, queues, and hope that everything will work out. But unlike the CSDD, here you can actually get peace as a result. The service provider must be registered in a special registry, because you can't just trust anyone with such responsible work as allowing other people to rest.