Child Diversion Branch forging partnerships to help kids

Venisa Clarke, director of the Child Diversion Branch (CDB) in the Ministry of Justice's Social Justice Division, says the unit remains committed to providing a circle of care for children, through partnerships with other entities.

The branch is seeking to meet its mandate to provide rehabilitative services to children between the 12 and 17 years old.

Clarke, who was speaking at the recent Jamaica Information Service 'Think Tank,' said several educational and skills training opportunities are being provided to children in the programme.

"It allows children who attain the age of at least 17 to be referred to HEART/NSTA Trust, and they include not only the skills training and the job placement, but they also include remedial education; and that is very important because we find that some of the children coming in to us, they [require] that type of intervention," said Clarke.

She also highlighted the other services offered to the children by other entities such as the National Council on Drug Abuse which provides drug treatment intervention.

"The Women's Centre Foundation of Jamaica provides sexual and reproductive health education and counselling. We also have private psychologists, social workers and guidance counsellors that we contract to provide the psychotherapy for individual and family homes concessions," said Clarke. She said mentorship is very important in the child diversion process to help steer the children into the right path by providing them with positive role models. While no specific skills are required to be a child diversion mentor, interested persons must be upstanding Jamaicans over age 18 years who are of demonstrably good character.

"The skill sets don't matter because children have different interests. So, you might coach football, for example, and the child that you are assigned to might be interested in sports. We place them according to the needs of the child," explained Clarke.

The partnership between the Child Diversion Branch and the HEART/NSTA Trust is set to continue until next March.