Youth Ministry to Implement Case Management System
By: , May 21, 2014The Key Point:
The Facts
- The system, which will cost approximately $58 million to implement, is slated for roll out over the next three years.
- This provision will also be extended to other child service entities, such as the Centre for the Investigation Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA), and Children’s Court.
The Full Story
The Ministry of Youth and Culture will, this year, commence phased implementation of a Case Management System (CMS), designed to maintain accurate records of children taken into State custody at places of safety, until their departure from these institutions.
The system, which will cost approximately $58 million to implement, is slated for roll out over the next three years, and will facilitate information sharing among the Ministry’s agencies, the Child Development Agency (CDA), Office of the Children’s Registry (OCR), and Office of the Children’s Advocate (OCA).
This provision will also be extended to other child service entities, such as the Centre for the Investigation Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA), and Children’s Court.
The CMS is one of several targeted interventions which the Ministry will commence implementing during the 2014/15 fiscal year, in a bid to further improve the island’s approximately 59 publicly and privately operated residential care institutions for children.
This announcement was made by Portfolio Minister, Hon. Lisa Hanna, during her Sectoral Debate presentation in the House of Representatives on May 20, under the theme: ‘Not Leaving It To Chance’.
Ms. Hanna advised that the CMS will streamline management of the intake process at all child care institutions, including referral screening for any behavioural changes.
“This is to assist our approach to placement management by ensuring that we match children to the best placement alternatives. It will also improve our client information management, ensuring that at a moment’s notice, we can locate the child’s medical and academic records,” the Minister outlined.
She advised that the system also includes service delivery monitoring, court processing, and case load management, adding that this approach is “long overdue”.
Ms. Hanna expressed confidence that, through this management tool, “we will see a significant improvement in the operations of residential care institutions, in short order.” Adding that children in State care will benefit from “better controls through standardized service.”
“We are taking deliberate steps to improve the system, because we cannot and must not leave it to chance,” she asserted.