Georgetown: The recently developed Child Services Regulations, which are expected to bolster the minimum operational standards for child care homes, are currently with the Attorney-General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall.
This is according to the Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Ms. Jennifer Webster.
She disclosed that the regulations are expected to be tabled as soon as the AG’s office has completed a review of the document.
“The regulations are meant to strengthen the framework for the care of children in institutional care, both state and private home,” she said.
The minister pointed out that the areas addressed by the regulations include:
* Ensuring that all the children in the homes have birth certificates and to support the birth certification of the children;
* Ensuring that all children in institutional care attend school and that their school attendance records are forwarded to the ministry periodically;
* Ensuring adequate medical attention, with the said records also in the possession of the ministry;
* Ensuring that all children in institutional care have access to dental checkups bi-annually; and
* Enforcing a standard disciplinary code.
“It was also felt that there would be need for training programmes more so for the judiciary, the magistracy and the probation and services department and the school welfare department of the Ministry of Education to address issues relating to juvenile offenders. Juvenile offenders are young people who come into some sort of contact with the law and we also plan to collaborate with the Guyana learning channel to develop a special programme to involve and inform children about their rights in accordance to the Rights of the Child Convention,” Ms. Webster added.
The need for greater measures to regulate the operations of child care homes, both state and private, was increasingly clear after public allegations of maltreatment of orphans residing at the Camal’s International Home in Corentyne, Berbice.
INQUIRY COMPLETE
The minister said the inquiry, which was launched last December, has been completed and the Committee has submitted its report.
The inquiry was launched after three girls, who were sentenced to four years at the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) on the charge of wandering, refuted claims of them running away from Camal’s children home. They claimed that they were being ill-treated at the home and when they refuse to do whatever they are told to do, the caretaker would verbally and physically abuse them and also limit their food. The girls are ages 15, 13 and 11.
“I will be meeting with the operator of the home to discuss the findings, which is the fair thing to do, before I release them to the public,” she said.’
Webster stated that several recommendations were made by the Committee, which the ministry will actively be considering for implementation to improve the operations at the home.
She said: “Some of those recommendations include that the current management of the Camal’s home and the physical condition of the institution and the operation should cease and that a board should be established to adequately address the needs and protection of children in institutional care.
“There were recommendations for disciplinary actions to be instituted against probation and social services officers for not being able to effectively discharge their duties in terms of monitoring what was happening at that home.
“Also there was a recommendation for the ministry to develop plans to support the implementation of existing systems to deal with the operations of the home.”
The Committee was chaired by Ayo Dalgetty-Dean and its other members are Saudia Feroze, Erma Bovell, Childcare and Protection Agency Legal Counsel, Joan Ann Edghill and Senior Probation and Social Services Officer, Claudia Munroe.
Additionally, the Director of the Child Care and Protection Agency, Mrs. Ann Green, told the Guyana Chronicle that currently manuals specifying the minimum operational standards are in place to ensure that child care homes across the country are managed in the appropriate manner.
“We have the minimum standard document in place already…we are right now putting additional measures to ensure that the standards of operations are fully met,” she said.
The Human Services and Social Security Ministry is also reportedly working on the re-establishment of its visiting committees, which will be visiting all the homes, both state and private child care institutions.
You must be logged in to post a comment.