Some 50 youth housed at the Rio Cobre Juvenile Detention Centre for Boys, in St. Catherine, are undergoing rehabilitation, in preparation for their reintegration into society. The Reaching Individuals Through Skills and Education (RISE) Life Management Services is providing training in essential life skills, through its ‘Finding My Voice’ programme. Under the rehabilitation and reintegration component of the programme, the boys...

The Ministry of Youth and Culture, through its Youth and Adolescents Policy Division (YAPD), will be conducting a Needs Analysis within each parish, to ascertain the current needs and challenges faced by youth. “It is the intent of the Division to use this information to customise the programmes being delivered in each parish to effectively address the respective parish youth...

The Office of the Children’s Registry (OCR) says there has been a four per cent decline in the number of children reported missing for January to July 2015, compared with the similar period in 2014. This is based on preliminary statistics from the Missing Person Monitoring Unit (MPMU) of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, which indicate that there were 1,224 missing...

Simonia Bradbury is relieved that her daughter Jennira Jane* is safe and no longer missing. The 13-year old, who has frequently run away from home, was recently recovered after she disappeared for the third time on January 26, 2015. She is now in the care of the state, where she is being supervised and is receiving psychosocial treatment. Her mother...

The Minister of Youth and Culture, Lisa Hanna, says the Government will be spending approximately $89 billion on programmes for youth and children across eight Ministries this financial year. The figure, she says, represents 14 percent of the total budget. Minister Hanna, who was making her contribution to the 2015/16 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on May 6,...

The Minister of Youth and Culture, the Honorable Lisa Hanna, notes with concern yet another news story of a child being sexually abused or ‘trafficked’ in a ring of prostitution.  She said that while the country has made strides in rescuing over twenty girls in child trafficking cases and seven arrests had been made, there is yet to be a...

Registrar at the Office of the Children’s Registry, Mr. Greig Smith, said there was a 10 per cent reduction in the number of missing children in 2014. This reduction, Mr. Smith said, was achieved by the OCR working closely with a number of state agencies, including the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). He was speaking on April 30 at a ceremony...