2-1-1 Hotline To Report Child Abuse Is Now Active

The new 24-hour child abuse reporting hotline 2-1-1 was launched virtually on Wednesday (September 22) and is toll-free from any service provider.

The new hotline which was organised through a collaborative effort between the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, will replace the 888-PROTECT hotline.

“We appreciate the work that 888-PROTECT [hotline] has done but one of the challenges we’ve recognised is that it is sometimes challenging, especially for younger children, to remember how to dial it,” Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Robert Morgan, said during his remarks at the launch.

The Chief Executive Officer of the CPFSA, Rosalee Gage-Grey, also noted that the organisation recognised it could not rely on the numbers and methods being used previously, and, therefore, signalled the need for a dedicated three-digit emergency number from the Office of Utilities Regulation.

“[The] 211 [hotline] was received earlier this year and has been operated by the National Children’s Registry since June,” she stated.

Meanwhile, Minister Morgan mentioned that it is important for children to have “quick access” to a number they can use immediately after an incident of abuse, no matter what time of the day or night the incident occurred.

“What we are seeking to do is interconnect, what I call the ‘childcare ecosystem’ in Jamaica,” he disclosed, adding that all other hotlines from the various ministries should be reachable upon direction from a CPFSA officer, through the 2-1-1 Hotline.

“We will also have a management system which gives us the ability to know and measure how effective the hotline is,” he noted.

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The hotline will be operated by trained officers, who will ask key questions to determine what kind of abuse a child is facing, the level of urgency and which entity is best suited to investigate the report.

Along with the CPFSA investigation unit, the Office of the Children’s Advocate and several units of the Jamaica Constabulary Force will have access to investigate reports issued. Notably, all reports are confidential.

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams, also addressed the virtual launch of the hotline. She noted that the Ministry will continue to work alongside the CPFSA to help protect the nation’s children.

“This is the kind of service that we wish we did not need but, regrettably, child abuse across social strata is a very present danger in Jamaica and we need to employ all the necessary resources to protect our children, to see to the reduction of these cases in Jamaica,” she stated.

According to data from the CPFSA, since the start of this year, there has been 600 reports of emotional abuse, 1,203 reports of sexual abuse, 1,465 reports of physical abuse and 2,528 reports of neglect.

All updates and information about the hotline will be made available on the CPFSA Facebook, Instagram and Twitter media pages, @CPSFAJM.