CPA on mission to make parents more accountable – looking for community support to fast-track efforts

Mar 01, 2018 News

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Parents who are substance abusers are a threat to their children.
This observation has been made by Director of the Childcare and Protection Agency [CPA], Ms. Ann Greene.
Greene, during an interview with this publication, disclosed that in recognition of this dilemma, the Agency is often dependent on tactical manoeuvres. Measures in this regard, she explained, usually come into play after the police force becomes involved.
“Sometimes we can only deal with parents who are drug abusers if they are placed in a confined position, Greene divulged. She explained, “if they are on remand, that is a good place to start…they need to come to the realisation of where they are and understand that they need to do something with their lives. When they are on remand it is a place where they will get some clean time, meaning they are without drugs and they can wake up…”
Counselling facilitated by officers within the employ of CPA is used to aid this awakening process along.
“We have counsellors who are exposed to substance abuse training…I too am a certified Substance Abuse Counsellor, and we have been seeing parents who are substance abusers and we have found that their children are very vulnerable,” Greene related.
She said that CPA is on a mission to ensure that parents, substance abusers or not, are held accountable for causing their children to be victims of vulnerable circumstances.
However, parents are not left to battle their prevailing circumstances independently.
According to Greene, the Ministry has in place parenting programmes that are designed to train parents on what is required of them in caring for their children. But Greene confided, “Although we are giving support, sometimes it is not easy for some parents to take it, and it appears that we are not assisting.”
She disclosed that in addition to financing the travels of the targeted parents just so they can attend training sessions, the Ministry has also long put in place safety net programmes from which they can benefit. Among these, Greene disclosed, are the Social Assistance and Difficult Circumstances programmes.
“We even have a programme where we help when a child is not going to school because they are short of supplies…we purchase these supplies, we even help with meals at times,” Greene disclosed. The assistance is even extended to financing day care services until a vulnerable mother is able to secure employment.
“Sometimes we pay for as much as three months, until she is able to get her first pay,” Greene said.
But in order to be more efficient in its service, Greene said that the Agency will require even more support. In this regard, she stressed the need for the support from communities too. “Community members, instead of them attacking us, they need to support us…” said Greene, as she considered that on some occasions when CPA makes tough decisions in the interest of protecting vulnerable children, “we are attacked”.
“It is part of the territory; we get attacked all the time! We are damned if we do and damned if we don’t,” said Greene.
But even in the face of criticism, Greene pledged that the CPA will continue to uphold its mandate to protect the nation’s children.
“Parents who leave their children vulnerable need to be held accountable and if they have to be placed on the remand it is still a chance for us to help them. But we can’t help the parents if they are not in a position to accept and benefit from it,” said Greene.
In order to emphasise the importance of its mandate, the Social Protection Ministry in collaboration with the United Nations Children Fund [UNICEF] hosted a special meeting yesterday, for representatives of religious organisations. At the forum held at the Umana Yana in Kingston, Georgetown, religious leaders were informed of the crucial role that they can play.  “What we have set out to do this year is to do more partnerships at the grass-root level. We have to work more closely with local groups and religious organizations. This meeting today [yesterday] is the first we are starting with to get the religious leaders to understand that they are in a unique position to help.
“They need to understand that there are general risk factors for children and they need to know what have to be done to keep children safe,” explained Greene.
She added, “this is not something we can do alone…we have to work with the masses, because many times it is within the family that children are abused and many families are connected to some organisations, especially religious organisations. Religious Organizations have many followers, people trust them and they are in an ideal position to help,” Greene noted.

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