Children’s homes review ordered
THE Government yesterday ordered a review of the island’s children’s homes and places of safety to assess whether Jamaica is meeting its obligations under the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The health ministry said the review will begin in January and named three of the four members who will do the work.
They are child psychologist Dr Pauline Milbourn; a resident magistrate, Neil Irving; and a retired permanent secretary, Sadie Keating.
The fourth member of the team is to be appointed by the public defender, Howard Hamilton.
Jamaica has ratified the convention on the rights of the child and earlier this year Prime Minister P J Patterson reinforced the island’s convention when he spoke at a special session on the UN General Assembly.
“The review is to ensure Jamaica’s compliance (with the convention) with respect to such institutions and is keeping with the Government’s commitment to the provision of adequate care and protection of children,” the health ministry said.
While the Government has consistently declared its commitment to improving the welfare of Jamaica’s children and youth, and in the late 1990s named a former junior minister, Marjorie Taylor as a special ambassador for children, there are complaints of a wide gap between intention and policy fulfillment.
The physical environment of children’s homes and places of safety and the quality of care that children receive in these institutions are often criticised.
The allegations have sometimes included claims of abuse of children, sometimes by staff and outsiders, but little by way of concrete evidence has emerged.
Until now, there has been no recent substantial review of the state or performance of the institutions, some of which are operated by NGOs and private charities.
The latest figures on children in care were not immediately available yesterday, but a year ago 2,118 children were in both government and private children’s homes or places or safety. This was 95 fewer than the year before.
These children had either been abandoned, orphaned, abused, deemed to be beyond parental control or were under the age of 12 and had committed offences. Boys accounted for 1,508, or 71 per cent of the group.
Included in the mandate of the review committee, the health ministry said, was to assess the procedures for the evaluation of children to be taken into care and recommend measures for improvement.
The group will also determine what support systems may be necessary to deal with behavioural problems exhibited by children in care and determine the functionality of children’s homes in Jamaica.
In this regard, the team will look at factors such as ratio of staff to children, the education and training of staff and the preparation of children to leave care.
It will also make recommendations on monitoring procedures to ensure that standards are maintained and children’s complaints are addressed.
Earlier this year, the Government produced a draft Child Care Act to bring into a single, and strengthened package, various bits of legislation affecting the rights of children, but it is still to be debated by Parliament.
Rights of the children campaigners have been pressing for the passage of the Act. The issue was placed back on the agenda at mid-year when an International Labour Organisation (ILO)-sponsored study on child labour pointed to substantial child prostitution in Jamaica.
That survey estimated that there were 4,000 children, between age 10 and 17, involved in the sex trade in Spanish Town, the fishing areas of Rocky Point and Old Harbour Bay and the tourist resort areas of Montego Bay and Negril.