Garth Rattray | The agony of missing children

Several years ago, our two dogs went missing for a while. We went from a state of shock and confusion to stark panic, dismay, gut wrenching distress, emotional pain, and then elation when they were finally back home. I therefore cannot even begin to imagine how a parent or parents, or relatives feel when a child goes missing.

Recently, a small community in Manchester was plunged into sadness when a 12-year-old boy went missing. Last year, approximately 985 children went missing in Jamaica. Data shows that 100 are still missing. This is nothing short of horrible. In 2023, 1,027 children went missing. Sadly, 151 are still missing. Of that figure, 133 are females and 18 are males. Up to March, 282 children were reported missing.

The Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) is integral in reducing the number of missing children. It was established in 2005 to “Provide care and protection for children at risk of abuse and neglect, support families, offer services to help families become stable and safe for children, improve services, and enhance the child welfare system in Jamaica.” It has introduced strategies to reduce the number of missing children and to improve recovery efforts. The agency also uses youth-centred forums to develop solutions.

The Chief Executive Officer of the CPFSA, Laurette Adams-Thomas, was quoted as saying that, “A major area of strategic focus for the agency for 2024 is ensuring the implementation of various strategies to reduce instances of missing children, while improving the effectiveness of recovery and intervention efforts.” One of these methods of intervention being employed by the agency is Ananda Alert, which will focus on developing solutions to address this problem.

CHILD RECOVERY TOOL

Ananda Alert is Jamaica’s official child recovery tool designed to locate high-risk missing children. It’s akin to Amber Alert system in the United States. It was established in 2009, following the kidnapping and murder of 11-year-old Ananda Dean in 2008. Before the Ananda Alert system, there was the Red Alert system – but that required a 24-hour wait period before reporting a missing child. Because of the Ananda Alert system, there is an approximate 85 percent return or recovery rate of missing children.

Whenever a child goes missing, the police and CPFSA activate the Ananda Alert System. Messages with the child’s image, physical description, and contact details are broadcast on digital screens (through partnerships with private entities like Intelligent Multimedia Limited and Visual Vibe) islandwide and posted in all public spaces. The information is also sent via SMS, and WhatsApp.

Another group, Children’s Cry (also known as Hear the Children’s Cry), is lobbying for a specialized missing children’s unit to be established within the Jamaica Constabulary Force. It is expected that such a [specialised] unit would be more capable of tracking and investigating the cases involving missing children. The group is also advocating for the implementation of stop orders “to prevent children from leaving the country undetected”.

The Hear the Children’s Cry was formed in 2002. It is a charitable organisation. It advocates for children’s rights. It provides support services for vulnerable children and families, serves as the voice of our children, advocates for their concerns and best interests, and commissions practical programs to protect and support them. It is dedicated to protecting children from “physical, sexual, mental, and emotional abuse”. It also ensures that the rights of children are enforced.

Hear the Children’s Cry provides support programmes for counselling, advocacy, public awareness outreaches, school safety and parenting education, the enhancement of parent-child relationships, runaway prevention programmes, community outreach, support services and telephone counselling. It partners with international organisations like the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.

VOLUNTARILY OR INVOLUNTARILY

Children go missing voluntarily or involuntarily. The voluntary reasons include – family conflict (this accounts for about 47 per cent of runaways), there is an overlap with physical, emotional, or sexual abuse (this accounts for 75 per cent of runaways), neglect, bullying at school or online, the child’s sexual orientation may precipitate bullying and isolation.

The involuntary reasons include – abduction (for exploitation, trafficking, or ransom). Abduction by strangers accounts for only 1 percent of all abductions. Sometimes a parent takes a child without the consent of the other parent. Children may also go missing during or because of natural disasters. Mentally ill children may wander off an become lost. Children may run away because of extreme poverty at home, or because of peer pressure (bad company).

Sadly, sometimes children are never found and some are found dead, however the number of children found dead is small. Of the 1,027 children reported missing in 2023, 875 were safely returned home, and although 151 were still missing, 1 child was found dead.

To prevent children going missing there must be – improved family bonding, the strengthening of family relationships through regular communication, quality time, emotional support, education and awareness of safe practices, ‘stranger danger’ inculcation, and keeping in touch with family members. The home, community, and school environments must feel safe, secure and supportive to children.

There needs to be access to mental health services, community involvement (the village raising a child principle), good parental supervision, close links with the authorities, and the utilisation of tracking technology. There should also be education on how to prevent abuse and neglect, anti-bullying campaigns, and economic support for needy families and communities.

We must not accept that some children will go missing. This is a preventable occurrence.

Garth Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice, and author of ‘The Long and Short of Thick and Thin’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com