Specialised Residential Therapeutic Centre to Be Opened At Windsor Home Soon

The specialised residential therapeutic facility at the Windsor Home in St. Ann is slated to be opened soon.

This was stated by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, during the official handover of the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) Therapeutic Centre at the Maxfield Park Children’s Home in St. Andrew on June 29.

The new facility forms part of efforts by the Government to provide psychological and other services to treat and rehabilitate children with behavioural issues as well as provide support for victims of child abuse.

It will also complement amendments to be made to the Child Care and Protection Act for children who come in contact with the law.

“The intention of the amendment is to end the practice of children who are deemed to be uncontrollable being placed in a penal institution,” the Prime Minister said.

The amendment was tabled in the House of Representatives recently by Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams.

“Following this amendment, no child charged with an offence will end up in a correctional facility; the use of the terms ‘uncontrollable’, ‘beyond control’ or ‘out of control’ in describing children with behavioural issues will be abolished,” the Prime Minister said.

“The revision will provide for a therapeutic order to be made by the judge. The order will mean that the state must provide psychological and other services to treat and rehabilitate those children, particularly with regard to behaviour disorders. Some children require intensive residential therapy, and we have constructed such a specialised purpose-built facility for them at the site of the Windsor Home. That facility is also about to come on stream,” he added.

The Prime Minister said the newly opened non-residential CPFSA Therapeutic Centre will contribute to the agency’s goal to be proactive and responsive in protecting the nation’s children and working with them in a controlled and therapeutic setting.

“Those who do not require residential treatment will be looked after right here and those who require residential treatment will be dealt with at the facility at Windsor,” he said.

The $200-million state-of-the-art CPFSA Therapeutic Centre, which is the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean, will facilitate medical treatment, social intervention, guidance and psychological support for victims of child abuse.