By Trudy Simpson, Staff ReporterTHE CHILD Development Agency (CDA) admitted on Friday that with almost six months gone since the release of the Children's Homes Report, it was yet to complete one of its more immediate tasks, the evaluation of all children in care facilities.
The admission has left one organisation hopping mad.
Dr. Carolyn Gomes, head of Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), the human rights lobby group, said the evaluations should have been the basic step to fulfilling the 46 recommendations presented by the Keating committee, which reviewed the operations of several children's homes and places of safety following allegations of child abuse and other wrongdoing last year.
"Without this assessment budgeting and planning is well nigh impossible. This is a bare minimum requirement of evidence of taking the Keating report seriously and attempting to fulfil a mandate. We must begin to see (and hear about) changes being implemented in the homes as per the report-changes which will impact the lives of the children in the care of the state," said Dr. Gomes via e-mail, Friday.
Dr. Gomes was worried also about the lack of specific details in the CDA's response to the request for an update on which recommendations have been implemented.
Alison Anderson, the CDA head, said in a statement on Friday that the organisation had met a third of the 46 recommendations and that it was working to cover the rest through initiatives such as the Child Care and Protection Act and development of protocols and procedures for handling critical incidents and serious cases such as alleged physical/sexual abuse in the sector.
NITTY-GRITTY MATTERS
But Dr. Gomes argued that "without specifics, it is very difficult to see and assess what the CDA has accomplished since it has been set up, and since the release of the Keating report. Part of the problem with the issue overall is an unwillingness or inability to deal with the nitty-gritty matters."
She said the CDA has not answered the most important question relating to changes made on the ground to improve the lives of the children in care. "This matter is urgent and needs immediate response not bureaucratic obfuscation," the JFJ executive said.
But Maureen Webber, a development consultant and a member of the Keating committee which examined the issue and uncovered inadequate monitoring and care, was heartened that the CDA had begun work.
"I would say that if as is indicated they have addressed 15 of the over 40 recommendations (so) they have taken some steps. (But) I will always remain concerned about the challenges of disabled children in homes," she said.
Ms. Webber suggested that the National Advisory Board for Persons with Disabilities, which she chairs, should meet with the CDA to determine how the board can support efforts to improve the quality of care of children with disabilities and reduce the numbers entering the homes.
She and Carol Samuels, executive director of the Jamaica Coalition on the Rights of the Child (JCRC), were also enthusiastic about what would be done once the Child Care and Protection Act becomes law.
Several reforms needed to improve the lives of children are encompassed in the bill.
"I have seen my share of reviews and commissions and ... the CDA is clearly making efforts to address some of the recommendations of the Review Committee and the final passage of the Child Care and Protection Act will give us a legal framework from which to Act. I hope that when it comes time for the National Disability Act there will be as much focus," Ms. Webber said.
But Dr. Gomes argued that "having legislation is one thing, having it effectively used is another. As we have seen, a lot is going to depend on the regulations, as it is possible to water down the effect of the law if the regulations are not carefully drafted."
She said that having the position of the Child Advocate was good but she was worried about "who will be appointed, what funding and staffing, among other items, will she or he have?"
Under-funding and under-staffing have meant that other posts have not been able to function as they should, Dr. Gomes said.
QUESTIONS
Last week, Sadie Keating, head of the disbanded Keating committee, human rights groups and Kay Osborne, the woman who helped to bring public attention to the children's home issue, began asking questions about implementation.
In the meantime, Ms. Webber said, she hoped operators of homes, majority of which are privately run, have begun to take steps to mobilise funding to improve their areas and that many institutions will get help from organisations including the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica and probably even the CHASE Fund.
