The Italian parliament has finalized legislation to offer children and relatives of mafia bosses a new path away from organized crime, according to The Guardian.
Under the new law, the state will provide individuals under 25 with new homes, schools, and alternative identities to sever the inter-generational chain of gangster recruitment.
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Chiara Colosimo, president of the parliamentary anti-mafia commission, said approximately 400 children born into mafia clans are expected to enter the program each year.
"Today, parliament is translating into law a dream that for years seemed impossible," Colosimo stated.
The law builds on a prior judicial initiative in Calabria, where blood ties make criminal clans like the 'Ndrangheta highly resistant to informants.
In 2011, a youth court president started a regional probation scheme to remove children from dangerous households and place them in safe environments, which faced significant public backlash at the time.
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Anti-mafia priest and campaigner Luigi Ciotti said, "Today, we don't just celebrate the approval of a law; today, we celebrate the victory of freedom."
The program prioritizes keeping mothers and children together if the mother agrees to cut all ties with the clan; otherwise, children are placed with vetted foster families.
Salvatore Vella, chief prosecutor in Gela, Sicily, called it "the right law," noting that defeating organized crime requires changes in the social environment.
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However, Vella raised concerns about the state's capacity to fund and staff the expansion, saying, "I worry it risks remaining largely on paper."
