The USAID Rule of Law Program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is designed to strengthen the rule of law in Georgia by building the independence and effectiveness of justice sector institutions, enhancing access to justice for all segments of society, and increasing citizen and institutional oversight of justice sector institutions. The Program seeks to hire a local expert to assist the Legal Aid Service (LAS) in developing a system for the registry of psychologists initiative.

Background

One of the objectives of the Rule of Law Program is to improve access to justice for all in Georgia, by working with the Legal Aid Service (LAS), a state-funded largest legal aid provider in Georgia, and CSOs delivering free legal assistance to socially vulnerable groups. The LAS provides legal assistance to beneficiaries through its bureaus and consultation centers throughout Georgia. In a lot of proceedings, psychological expertise is necessary, especially in cases concerning children, victims of violence, etc. In such cases, expert opinion greatly affects the outcome for the beneficiaries. There’s a shortage of qualified/experienced cadres of expert psychologists in Georgia, especially in the regions, which affects the access to justice and the standards of rights protection for the most vulnerable. The LAS has a unit of 3 psychologists on staff, based in Tbilisi. They however are not able to cover all cases. For this purpose, LAS decided to develop a registry of professional psychologists across the country, who will be able to provide impartial, comprehensive, and well-founded expert opinions for LAS cases as needed. The registry can also be made available for other interested parties in need of psychological expertise in legal processes. The Program plans to support this initiative and secure expert assistance for LAS in developing this registry.

Proposed Approach:

The Program seeks to hire a local expert to assist the LAS in developing a system for the registry of psychologists. Currently, LAS is in the process of recruiting psychologists, especially in regions, to create a pool of outside expert psychologists. The expert will work closely with LAS to identify the major areas of work/specialization (e.g. child psychologists, psychologists working with victims of abuse or violence, etc.) reflecting the current needs that LAS has, considering the needs in various regions of Georgia as well. The expert will identify competencies and skills for the psychologists per specialization, as well as the training needs in relevant international and domestic guidelines, protocols, and general legal framework key to the specializations. Additionally, the expert will support capacity building of the LAS psychologist unit and train them on effective supervision of the registry psychologists’ work. The objective is for the unit to become a strong in-house asset, able to provide necessary training and support for the LAS lawyers working with vulnerable beneficiaries who have experienced major trauma and stress. The expert will also develop a training syllabus for the lawyers through the in-house psychologists’ unit. This will provide a necessary foundation for the LAS psychologists and lawyers to make service delivery more sensitive, effective, and sustainable.

Timeline

The consultancy period will be May-June 2023.

The estimated level of effort will be up to 12 working days.

Reporting

The Expert will work closely with the LAS, in close consultation with the Legal Aid component of the Rule of Law Program, and will report to Mariam Gabedava, Legal Aid Advisor, and Giorgi Chkheidze, Chief of Party.

Deliverables

The Expert will provide the following deliverables:

1. Identify major specializations.
2. Identify competencies and skills for the psychologists per specialization.
3. Identify the training needs in relevant international and domestic guidelines, protocols, and general legal framework key to the specialization.
4. Conduct training for the LAS unit of psychologists on effective supervision of the registry psychologists’ work.
5. A syllabus for training LAS lawyers working with vulnerable beneficiaries.

Requirement and Eligibility*

Qualifications and experience:

1. University degree in Psychology, Social Sciences, or other relevant fields;
2. At least 5 years of relevant professional experience;
3. At least 3 years of experience in conducting similar training and supervision;
4. Experience working with service delivery organizations;
5. Experience in rule of law/access to justice matters is preferred;
6. Computer literacy (Internet, Microsoft Office programs, etc.).

To apply, potential candidate(s) need to present:

1. Cover Letter, addressing the criteria above;
2. CV, with a detailed list of qualifications;
3. Draft agenda and basic methodology of the training;
4. Cost proposal, including the proposed gross daily rate in USD (expert honorarium only).

*Applications will be reviewed based on the above-provided Requirement and Eligibility criteria.  

The Program retains the right to select any or none of the applications. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

The application must be submitted in English. The application should be e-mailed to info.rolp@ewmi.org Please include the following text in the subject line: Expert -Developing the Registry of Psychologists

The deadline for application submissions is midnight, April 16, 2023 (Georgia time)