Abuse Of Children In State Care Will Not Be Tolerated – Minister

Continuing the “zero tolerance” approach to the abuse of children in State care, Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams, has said that childcare facilities will be closed where reports of abuse are found to be valid.

“We will close homes if we get reports of abuse in those homes, and we will investigate later. Our children are in our care. We have to act. We have to believe the stories, we have to believe the information that comes to us about our children and about the abuse that they bring to our attention,” she emphasised.

The Minister was speaking at the ceremony to break ground for the $117-million Child Therapeutic Centre, on July 6 at the Maxfield Park Children’s Home in Kingston.

Mrs. Williams said the Ministry has acted swiftly in addressing reports of abuse, removing affected children, while investigations are being conducted.

“We have been sending the message of zero tolerance of violence against children in State care. Where it has come to our attention, we have acted immediately and our stance has been to take the child out of the situation and investigate later, rather than leave the child in the situation while the investigation is ongoing,” she explained.

Mrs. Williams said the Ministry is seeking to establish an early warning system for cases of abuse.

“It is not enough in my mind for us to respond after the fact to the calls of distress for our children. We have to have a system in place that can alert us that something is starting to go wrong in the lives of our children and act on that information,” she argued.

The Minister said it is anticipated that this system will see a reduction in the number of abuse cases.

The new centre will be managed by the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA).