Children’s group pressures gov’t to act on report
THE Hear the Children’s Cry Committee has called on government to treat the problems highlighted in Children’s Homes and Places of Safety with the same urgency it applies to the financial sector whenever there is a crisis.
According to Committee Convener, Betty Ann Blaine, when banks or other financial institutions get into crisis, there is usually a swift response, and teams of experts are usually sent in immediately to apply corrective measures.
“The institutions responsible for the welfare of Jamaican children should receive no less by way of prompt action. It is not right to play politics, or otherwise drag our feet where our children are concerned. Our children are the most vulnerable members of the society, and their welfare should receive priority action,” she said.
The Hear the Children’s Cry Committee is an umbrella group of organisations working for the welfare of children, including Youth Opportunities (YOU), Visions of Hope and the Victorious Movement of Jesus in Jamaica.
And in calling on government to “take immediate action” in light of the Keating Commission Report which painted a picture of widespread abuse in the homes, Blaine stressed that “the issue of accountability” is at stake.
“We believe this situation constitutes a crisis and needs to be treated as such,” she commented.
Additionally, she said that there are some institutions where “the abuse and malpractice” are worse.
“We believe that the people responsible should be suspended immediately, pending more detailed investigation. Furthermore, qualified persons need to be sent in right away, to get the institutions running properly, and to ensure that this type of disaster never occurs again,” she said.
“It can’t be ‘when we get the funds’. It has to be priority action,” she emphasised.
However, shortly after the report was released, Health Minister John Junor said that it would require an estimated $800 million to address the problems highlighted in the report, and that government had earmarked nearly 70 per cent of that figure.
But Blaine pointed out that apart from abuse of children and improper care, there were also many cases where the physical facilities of the institutions were in a deplorable condition, and urged government to address these issues urgently.
“It is not simply a matter of allocating money,” she continued. “The incidence of abuse has to do with the character of the staff who are being employed. It has to do with who we are and what we have become. The question of what is happening in the children’s institutions is a reflection of what is happening in the broader society– unkindness, lack of love, and of course, abuse, the way we treat each other.
“In fact,” she continued, “here is an opportunity for Civil Society– the business sector, churches, all the organisations working with children and the other NGOs– to unite and see how we can collectively tackle this crisis.”