Abrahams - File

Executive Director of the RISE Life Management Services (formerly Addiction Alert), Sonita Morin Abrahams, has said that the social intervention programmes offered through the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) have been very beneficial to the various communities in which they were implemented.

The RISE Life Management Services received a five-year grant from the Ministry of National Security to undertake interventions on behalf of the CSJP, which is currently operating in six inner-city communities, namely Drews-land, Waterhouse, Tower Hill, Allman Town, Parade Gardens and Fletchers Land.

"The CSJP began in 2001 and we are currently just beginning our fifth and final year, and it is our hope that this programme will be able to continue after-wards, because it is such an important programme for the empowerment of our inner-city communities," said Mrs. Morin Abrahams recently.

Critical programme

"It is actually a critical programme because it includes remedial education which is really badly needed. It (also) includes life skills training, parenting skills, counselling services and home visits. So, it is really an excellent programme and one that needs to continue at all costs," she added.

The executive director said many of the young people within the communities who have been attending the remedial classes were doing significantly better in school.

"We find that their behaviour has improved. We also have behaviour modification pro-grammes where they get points for good behaviour and they're able to translate those points into gifts at the end of a month. So, there are strong motivations for them to improve and not only in their school work but in their discipline, punctuality and so many areas in their lives," she said.

"We also feed these young people everyday, so we provide over 550 meals every single day to the participants in this programme."

Mrs. Morin Abrahams said the feedback from parents has been positive.

"Parents have told us that they're behaving much better at home, that, in fact,they're eager to go to school, they don't want to miss school and we're just getting more and more requests from young people to join the programme," she said.

Work on the ground

"We work on the ground and it really is about empowering young people and giving them a choice, so that they know that if they come to classes they have an opportunity to continue their education and to receive a vocational skill, so that they can earn an honest living," the executive director said.

The Addiction Alert organi-sation was established by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica in 1989.

Based on the organisation's experience over the years, the direction and focus of the programme have been reviewed and adjusted in order to meet the current needs of young people at risk in Jamaica, particularly those living in inner-city communities.