Italy’s mafia clans have kept the family business alive for generations, passing criminal empires from fathers to sons in a cycle that has endured for centuries. But with organised crime networks still exerting influence across parts of the country, the Italian government now wants to make the next generation an offer that — it hopes — they can’t refuse.

Italy’s Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to the “Free to Choose” (Liberi di Scegliere) bill, a landmark law offering children and young adults raised in mafia families the chance to escape the criminal organisations they might otherwise be expected to inherit.

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Under the legislation, people under the age of 25 and relatives who care for them may be relocated outside their home region, provided with education and psychological support and, where necessary, given new identities, expanding across the nation a pioneering programme first launched in the southern region of Calabria.

However, critics say the law gives the state too much power to intervene in family life and risks separating children from their parents. Here’s what we know:

Why are family ties so important to the mafia?

Italy is still home to several major mafia organisations, including Sicily’s Cosa Nostra, the Camorra in the Naples region and the Calabria-based ’Ndrangheta.

While leadership is not always inherited directly in Cosa Nostra or the Camorra, blood relationships are central to the structure of the ’Ndrangheta, which has developed into one of the world’s most powerful criminal organisations.

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The sons of senior members may be expected to inherit their fathers’ authority and assume responsibilities within the clan, sometimes while still in their teens.

These family bonds have also helped make the Ndrangheta particularly difficult for investigators to penetrate. Cooperating with the authorities can mean implicating parents, siblings, uncles and cousins.

That has made the organisation comparatively resistant to Italy’s system of ‘pentiti’ – mafia members who provide evidence to prosecutors in exchange for protection or reduced sentences.

While in some cases mass arrests and large trials have imprisoned generations of senior figures, with fathers and grandfathers serving lengthy or life sentences, younger relatives have frequently stepped forward to take over the family business. The new law therefore seeks to break the family code before it claims another generation.

What does the law provide?

The legislation creates a national framework for protecting minors and young adults living in environments dominated by organised crime.

Authorities will be able to relocate eligible young people and accompanying relatives beyond their region of residence. They may receive housing, education, vocational training, psychological assistance and support in establishing an independent life.

The law prioritises keeping mothers and children together, provided the mother agrees to sever her connections with the criminal organisation.

When that is not possible, a court may arrange for a child to live with an approved foster family or in protected accommodation.

The measures do not depend on the family member providing evidence against the mafia. The central purpose is to protect people who want to leave a criminal environment, rather than to recruit them as witnesses.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described the law as “a new prevention tool” that would supplement policing and judicial action.

“The state will offer an alternative of freedom for those born into mafia families who do not want to grow up to become a mafioso,” she said.

“Children, youngsters and women will have the chance to choose their own path, and the state will provide them with the necessary protection to build a free, honest and safe life elsewhere.”

Where did the programme come from?

The legislation grew out of an experimental programme established by Roberto Di Bella, who became president of the juvenile court in Reggio Calabria around 2011.

Di Bella had repeatedly encountered children charged with crimes similar to those committed by their fathers and grandfathers. He concluded that conventional punishment did little to prevent the cycle from continuing.

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Under the programme, courts could temporarily remove children from especially dangerous ’Ndrangheta households and relocate them outside Calabria.

Social workers, teachers and psychologists then helped them continue their education and experience life beyond the authority of the clan. Parents who continued involving their children in criminal activity risked losing parental rights.

The initiative was later formalised through protocols and expanded beyond Calabria, including to Sicily.

Di Bella named it freedom to choose because, he said, children raised inside mafia organisations had rarely been given a genuine choice about their futures.

Why is it controversial?

The programme faced fierce opposition from its inception, with Di Bella accused by some politicians, commentators and members of the Catholic Church of attacking the family and punishing children for crimes committed by their parents.

Mafia figures also threatened those involved in the scheme. In one case, an imprisoned boss sent Di Bella a message reminding the judge that he, too, had children – a warning widely interpreted as a threat.

But supporters say that children were already being subjected to violence, coercion and criminal indoctrination inside some mafia households – and that leaving them there could lead to imprisonment or death.

The programme gained momentum after some mothers from ’Ndrangheta families began approaching Di Bella in secret, he said. Several asked for help getting their sons out of Calabria because they feared the boys would otherwise be recruited into the clan, killed or sent to prison.

Don Luigi Ciotti, an anti-mafia priest and campaigner, welcomed the legislation, expressing “enormous joy” over the protection it would provide to people leaving mafia environments.

The president of the Parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission, Chiara Colosimo, said: “This law is born from listening, from suffering transformed into responsibility, from the idea that the state must be present precisely where crime claims to decide people’s fate.

“Today, we don’t just celebrate the approval of a law; today, we celebrate the victory of freedom.”