UPDATE: CDA intervenes to help family living under tarpaulin

The Child Development Agency (CDA) says it has been mobilising a team to visit a family of four that has been living under a tarpaulin in Bull Bay, St Andrew for the last two months.

Chief Executive Officer of the CDA, Rosalee Gage-Grey, says the team, which will include representatives from the Social Security Ministry and other social agencies, is expected to make contact with the family today. 

According to Mrs Gage-Grey, the team will conduct an assessment to determine the family’s needs and that will determine the course of action taken by the CDA.

The move by the CDA comes in response to a story published in The Gleaner yesterday detailing the plight of Fortella Pickersgill, her two adult daughters and her one year old grandchild.

The only employed daughter works in a bar. 

The mother told The Gleaner that she and her daughters ended up living under the tarpaulin after they were kicked out of a house they were sharing with her sister. 

She said neighbours sometimes offer assistance by allowing them to use their bathrooms.