CHIEF EXECUTIVE Officer (CEO) of the Child Development Agency (CDA) Allison Anderson said that the agency, which begins operating as an Executive Agency Tuesday, would em-bark on a major staff recruitment drive to fill 300 posts.
Miss Anderson said that by the end of the calendar year, the agency should have at least 50-60 per cent of its staff, and that already, the finance, monitoring and accounting divisions were fully staffed. She also noted that a major recruitment drive would take place soon, specifically for clinical psychologists, to establish a clinical psychology unit within the agency.
Accepting her instruments of delegation to the CDA, during Monday's post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, the CEO said while there were enough qualified persons to be employed as social workers, there was a deficit in meeting psychology needs, but that the agency was working with the Jamaica Association of Psychologists to bridge that gap.
Miss Anderson noted that a counselling psychologist had already been employed, and that human and physical resources had been dedicated to that area of service delivery.
She explained that the recruitment process for staff could not have been advanced before the instruments of delegation were obtained.
The CEO reported that following the recommendations of the Agency's predecessor, the Children's Services Division, regarding a survey of street and working children, which that division had conducted, the CDA was working with partner agencies and ministries as well as the Office of the Prime Minister, to "see how we can move forward and implement the most immediate recommendations."
