FIRST, we express relief. Too often do reports of children going missing from care homes end in tragedy. That is not the case as it relates to three boys, aged 13, 14 and 15, who were reported missing to the police on August 3 after reportedly running away from the Rainbow Rescue Home for Boys at Saddle Road, Maraval. After ten days, the three were handed over to the Children’s Authority, with two being so placed by a Port of Spain-based politician who briefly took charge of them.
But second, we express grave disquiet over this entire episode, as happily as it has ended.
“The authority has already begun its investigation to determine how the children were able to leave,” stated its director/CEO Sheldon Cyrus in a statement. “This inquiry will also address any allegations by the children, as well as review the safety and security measures at the home.”
These are not the only matters that cry out for review.
It has been nearly three years since the 2021 Judith Jones Report (and nearly three decades since the 1997 Robert Sabga Report). Notwithstanding high levels of publicity in relation to the matters such reports raised, there are too many questions still lingering over the enforcement of standards as it relates to almost all aspects of the State’s care of vulnerable minors.
For instance, when it comes to residences that fall under the regulations set in 2018, no child is supposed to be able to depart “unaccompanied, unsupervised or without permission.” Premises should be secure. In this regard, it would be for the authority to examine how well licensing is working. One imagines enforcement, including the issuing of warnings, is a matter of great importance.
Yet, we are in a situation in which people cannot seem to get through to the authority’s most basic conduit of engagement with the public: its telephone line.
“From 1 pm, I tried to reach out to them up until 6 pm,” said Kezel Jackson, who helped two of the boys out this week and said she never received a reply. Mr Cyrus’s bland advice to the public to await a “callback” is not reassuring.
In a situation in which homes rely on donations and charity, and in which the authority itself has a history of being overwhelmed, practical slippages do not bode well for the overall quality of care.
Only in May did issues arise over one case involving a 12-year-old at the Couva Children’s Home and Crisis Nursery, which pointed to the incredibly complex demands faced by the system.
This case had a happy ending.
But more needs to be done to prevent others that might not.
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