VSB to Host Interventions for Children Experiencing Trauma

The Victim Services Branch (VSB) in the Ministry of Justice’s Social Justice Division is looking to undertake several resocialisation interventions this year, targetting children who have experienced trauma.

The Cultural Resocialisation Intervention Project (CRIP) provides therapeutic healing for children through cultural resensitisation, cognitive restructuring, behaviour modification and the teaching of coping skills.

The first intervention of the year was held in partnership with the Ministry’s Restorative Justice Branch, at Hope Gardens in St. Andrew on Thursday (February 6).

Thirty-seven students from Oberlin High School in St. Andrew were exposed to activities that taught them positive coping skills and promoted healing from traumatic experiences.

Regional Director for the VSB, Dr. Nesta Haye, explained that Oberlin High School was recommended for the intervention by the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information due to several traumatic incidents in surrounding communities that impacted students at the institution.

She noted that the schools that will participate in the upcoming interventions have not yet been identified but will likely be chosen from institutions the VSB is already working in.

Dr. Haye advised that follow-up sessions will be held with the children after the one-day intervention.

“We work closely with guidance counsellors in the schools to ensure that we can monitor the children, so it doesn’t become a one-time thing where they come here [to the intervention] and then they go back to the same environment. The continued support is necessary to build their resilience,” she explained.

The Regional Director also emphasised the importance of the children maintaining positive feelings while acknowledging their emotions.

“We let them know that it’s okay to be sad, it’s okay to not accept a particular behaviour, but [that] you don’t need to fight back. We remind them that they have to love themselves first. A lot of them are bitter with themselves, and we find that they start cutting themselves and wanting to hurt themselves because of those bitter feelings. So we work on addressing those things through the CRIP,” Dr Haye explained.

The CRIP targets at-risk children aged six to 18. Its main objectives are teaching them adequate coping skills to assist them in overcoming traumatic experiences and helping them develop an appreciation for authority and others in society.

It is one of several services offered by the VSB, which has responsibility for providing counselling, emotional support and therapy to victims of crime through various therapeutic tools, interventions and programmes.

For more information on the Branch’s programmes and services, or to locate a parish office, persons may visit the Justice Ministry’s website, https://moj.gov.jm, or call 888-JUSTICE (888-587-8423)