CDA Assisting Children in State Care to Prepare for Adulthood

Chief Executive Officer of the Child Development Agency (CDA), Alison Anderson, today encouraged wards of the state to “dream big” and to always develop a plan for their lives.
“This simply means that you do not need to worry about the things you do not have. What you need to do is take what you have, dream big, and make up your mind that you will achieve it fairly and through hard work,” Miss Anderson said during the South Eastern Region of the CDA’s ‘Genesis: Launching – out activity for Children in Care’, held at the St. Andrew Parish Church Hall today (Oct. 31).
She added that, “when you know where you want your life to go, and you have clear timelines, you may not feel as pressured to do everything at once, and as you complete each stage you will see it coming together.”
Miss Anderson told the children that their plans should not be rigid and inflexible so that “you cannot change or adapt them to suit your situation.”
“Put it this way – do not be set like concrete, rather let it be like jello that you can mould and reshape. Remember you cannot do everything by yourself. No man is an island. Draw on these things and other resources around you to help you accomplish your goals,” the Chief Executive Officer said.
Meanwhile, Regional Director, at the South Eastern Region of the CDA, Claudette Hemmings, explained that the activity is aimed at preparing children between the ages of 17 and 18 who are, and will be exiting state care within another few months.
“We are trying to provide them with some coping skills, some skills for independent living, because many of them are going on their own and many of them are going back to parents. But then they will be adults fending for themselves, so we are trying to equip them for the working world,” Mrs. Hemmings said.
She added that the programme seeks to develop an attitudinal change in the children and to also assist them to build relationships.
“Having been in this system over the years, they are probably overly protected and when they go out into the world, we will not be there as such and so they are going to be meeting up on persons who they will need to build relationships with. They need to learn how to build relationships in the working world in order to hold a job,” Mrs. Hemmings said.
Some of the participating organisations in today’s event include the National Youth Service; the HEART Trust/National Training Agency; the Ministry of Health and Environment, and the National Insurance Scheme.