PERSONNEL FROM various levels of the Family Court system are now half-way through the special training programme designed to improve the management and enhance the delivery of service in the nation's Family Courts, the Ministry of Justice reports.
Participants have been exposed to critical topics such as international conventions related to the rights and welfare of women and children, case management, substance abuse, values and ethics, anger management and HIV/AIDS.
POSITIVE RESPONSE
Simeon Robinson, programme manager of the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) at the Ministry of Justice said that participants in the programme have responded positively to this training programme, describing the sessions in the main, as being "very intensive and informative."
This assessment, he noted, was due to the careful selection of presenters who are experienced and knowledgeable in their respective fields.
As part of the programme, participants also went on a study tour in the United States to get a first-hand view of the Family Court system and support organisations in the state of New York. The activities included a forum attended by lecturers and students from universities in and around New York.
A paper on The Law and the Family: The Jamaican Perspective, which was presented by Resident Magistrate Andrea Thomas was well received by the participants.
The contingent also visited institutions such as the New York Administration for Children Services, drug treatment centres operated specifically for women and children and the Queens Family Court.
IMPACT
Participants reported that discussions with the District Attorney's office in Brooklyn, during the visit, also brought to the fore the impact of nnovative and preventative programmes which are implemented between the State and various social partners.
The training programme is scheduled to resume early this month when personnel from the Family Court and related agencies will explore the issues of grief counselling and working with sexually-molested children.
The training, developed by the Social Work Unit in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, under a contract arrangement with the CSJP, is geared towards Resident Magistrates, clerks and deputy clerks of court, court administrators and senior supervisory and social workers. The thrust to enhance the nation's Family Court system forms part of the multi-faceted approach identified by the CSJP to assist the development of the local Justice System. The programme is funded by the Government of Jamaica and the Inter-American Development Bank.
