PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson, John Junor, Minister of Health, and Ambassador Marjorie Taylor, Special Envoy for Children, on Monday issued instructions to set up a four-member committee to look into operations at these institutions.
The committee is expected to begin sittings within the next few days and submit a report, hopefully around the end of February 2003.
"We wanted to ensure that we are in league with the tenets of the rights of the child. We recognise internally some shortcomings in the homes with respect to personnel and procedures, particularly our intake procedures," Mr. Junor explained.
"We wanted to ensure that for the children who face particularly difficult circumstances and behavioural problems, that we devise some ways of identifying those and treating their specific nature," he said, adding that costs of the review have not yet been worked out.
The Ministry said that the members of the committee include Dr. Pauline Melbourne, a Child Psychiatrist; Resident Magistrate Rosemarie Neil-Irving; Mrs. Sadie Keating, retired Permanent Secretary, and a representative to be named
by Public Defender Howard Hamilton.
A release from the Health ministry said that the review comes against the background of upholding the International Conventions on the Rights of Child, ratified by Jamaica. This was re-enforced earlier this year when the Prime Minister reported on behalf of the Caribbean at the United Nations General Assembly's Special Session on Children, the release said.
According to the Health ministry, the review is to ensure Jamaica's compliance with respect to such institutions and is in keeping with the Government's commitment to the provision of adequate care and protection of children.
The committee will be required to: 1) assess the procedures for intake evaluation and placement of children in care and make recommendations for improvement; 2) determine the support systems necessary to address behavioural problems exhibited by children in care; 3) ascertain the functionality of the children's homes in Jamaica determined by factors such as staff to child ratio, level of education accessed, environmental conditions and preparation for final separation from care; 4) evaluate the effectiveness of the monitoring procedures that will ensure that standards of care and children's complaints are addressed; 5) review the structure proposed for the
CDA to determine congruence between structure and desired improvements in care; and 6) determine any other steps to be undertaken by the State to ensure the safety and well-being of children in its care.
