The Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) is thankful for the support received from the Transformation Implementation Unit (TIU), in enhancing its delivery of critical services to the nation’s most vulnerable children. The CPFSA has benefitted from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Network Infrastructure Expansion Project being spearheaded by the TIU, under the public sector transformation programme. The...

The Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) has approximately 4,544 children in its care. Governed by the Child Care and Protection Act (CCPA), the Agency is responsible for children in foster care, children’s homes and places of safety, under supervision order directed by the Courts, and in family integration. The scope of the CPFSA’s mandate includes but is not...

Organisations that look after the infirm, wards of the State, beaches and streets in Clarendon have benefited from work done by young volunteers of the Central Jamaica Seventh-day Adventists, under their Operation Save a Youth (OSAY) initiative. On March 17, the more than 2,000 volunteers, drawn from the parishes of Manchester, Clarendon and St. Catherine, cleaned the May Pen Market,...

Students in training and front-line professionals who work with children deemed at risk are being empowered to better offer care and support to those in their charge. Through the Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA) Peace, Resiliency and Wellness (PRW) training course, persons are being equipped to cater to their own well-being and, in turn, address the needs of the vulnerable youngsters....

Conflict is an inevitability that everyone, despite the very best efforts, must face at one point or another. However, learning positive behaviour, such as how to appropriately handle conflict from an early age, can make all the difference in a person’s development. The Ministry of Justice, through its Restorative Justice (RJ) Branch, has, for years, delivered restorative practices training to...

Four inclusive classrooms have been established under phase one of the Early Childhood Development Legacy Project. Being implemented by the Early Childhood Commission (ECC), the project aims to modify and equip classrooms in infant departments to provide holistic spaces where children with disabilities can learn along with their peers who do not have special needs. The objective is to create...

When Major Sheelyn Manya accepted an invitation to join the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force (JCCF) in 1979, she had no idea the impact she would have, breaking new ground for women in the organisation. Armed with a heart for service, a young Mrs. Manya, while teaching at St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), was part of the first set of...

As of September, more Jamaicans will benefit under the Jamaica-Cuba Bilateral Medical Scholarship Programme. The Cuban Government is offering additional scholarships for Jamaican students to study in various fields, including nursing, medicine and engineering. Each year, the Cuban government invites applications from persons wishing to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate studies. The programme is administered by the Embassy of the Republic...