Parents Of Children With Disabilities Can Access Empowerment Grant

Executive Director of the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD), Dr. Christine Hendricks, says parents of children with disabilities are able to access the Council’s Economic Empowerment grant to assist in the maintenance of a disabled child.

The grant can be up to $150,000 for a person with a disability to start his or her own business.

“We have economic empowerment grants so that if you are business-minded as a parent and you can carry out a business on behalf of your child, you can earn and take care of the medical and educational needs of your child,” she said.

Dr. Hendricks was speaking at a Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) Enabling Parents virtual forum, on May 13.

She added that the JCPD provides access to a range of financial support services aimed at empowering persons with disabilities to lead independent lives, and that these services are made available to persons who are registered with the JCPD.

Provisions include assistance to ensure full educational opportunities, such as school-fee assistance and books.

“We provide educational assistance; during the period May to July, persons can apply for back to school assistance,” she added.

Dr. Hendricks said the Council also provides funding for the purchase of assistive devices – specialised wheelchairs, specialised glasses and hearing aids, through its Assistive Aid grant.

“Whatever assistive devices your child has to use… to enable their independence is available through the Assistive Aid grant,” she added.

The Council also facilitates persons with disabilities who meet the required criteria to access the five per cent allocation of housing solutions from the National Housing Trust (NHT).

“If it is other social support, the NHT provides a grant for persons who have children, who will need to retrofit their home to ensure that the child who is using a wheelchair can move around better. Whatever the disability is, the NHT provides support to help in that area,” Dr. Hendricks said.

For more information, persons can visit the JCPD at http://jcpdja.com/ or call

(876) 968-0837-3 and (876) 926-9374-5.

The forum was the second of four being hosted by the CPFSA in partnership with the JCPD. The sessions are targeting persons in Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth.

They aim to empower parents of children with disabilities to cope with the challenges of raising these children.

The sessions form part of the activities to celebrate Child Month 2021, being observed in May under the theme ‘I Strive to Overcome Adversities with Resilience (I-SOAR)’