By Trudy Simpson, Staff ReporterRAPE, CARNAL abuse, batterings, physical restraints and harsh punishment meted out to children in state-run homes have been confirmed in a report on operations in the facilities.
The report also pointed to poor management and supervisory systems in state and private run homes, as well as undertrained and indifferent staff, leading to children being emotionally scarred, neglected and abused in cramped and dilapidated surroundings.
Tabled in Parliament yesterday, the document placed on official record information first revealed in a Sunday Gleaner expose on abuses in the homes and places of safety in January of this year.
INADEQUATE MONITORING
Details in the report point to woefully inadequate monitoring of the facilities by the Ministry of Health and the Children's Services Division which holds supervisory responsibilities.
A four-member team, set up in January to do the review, discovered that children were often forced to endure the stench of urine, after wetting their beds in dormitories assigned to "bedwetters". They also found that children ran away, used alcohol or drugs, had suicidal thoughts or made attempts to commit suicide, while other state wards either watched or tried to stop them.
Workers at these institutions were said to respond in an "off-handed" manner to pleas for help from those trying to help, who were asked, "So why you didn't just leave him/her (alone)?"
According to the report, children, including those with disabilities who could not clearly state their needs, were placed in solitary confinement or were forced to kneel on sharp objects. Some were raped and verbally
abused by state caregivers, many of whom were un-trained and underpaid. The children were also being forced to work without benefiting from their labour.
The report, which gathered information through questionnaires and focus groups with children and other stakeholders, showed that children were being restrained by adults who pressed their knees to children's chests and, in some cases, children were being whipped on their breasts and around their pubic areas.
HARSH TREATMENT
Attempts to escape from facilities resulted in harsh treatment.
At one place of safety, "the holding area in which runaway children are held following their return to the institution looked dark, unhealthy, overcrowded and unacceptable for the purpose," the team wrote.
"The boys in the area appeared malnourished, dishevelled and said they were hungry in spite of having lunch. They begged for money to buy 'biscuits' from the tuck shop. They were held in this area during the day time and were not involved in any stimulating or educational activities."
Even going to the bathroom was torture for some children, disabled youth being the most vulnerable, the report said.
PIT TOILETS
At one home, the indoor bathrooms were locked, forcing children to use outside pit toilets. At another privately run place of safety housing disabled children, "there was an eighteen-year-old lying in her faeces," because of the lack of adequate water supply and caregivers.
The report showed that there were no systems in state facilities to assess children's health and development and no evidence of remedial training taking place for state wards, who were said to be behind their peers in school. In addition, there was no evidence of state wards studying subjects for the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) and Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), although there were children who were at those levels.
The lack of adequate systems also meant that the children's homes and places of safety were fire hazards.
