UPDATED: Employers shunning former wards of the state
Published:Sunday | February 3, 2019 | 12:00 AM
Much like the situation with ex-convicts, the stigmatisation of wards of the state has resulted in several of them finding it difficult to secure jobs that would enable them to sustain themselves after leaving state care.
This was one of the concerns shared by Ceceile Minott, head of the Caribbean Child Development Centre and director of the Consortium for Social Development and Research at the UWI Open Campus.
“We are beginning to see it. Just yesterday we had a meeting and it is so evident that the stigma is there,” said Minott during an interview with The Sunday Gleaner last Wednesday.
“Once they hear that the children are from state care, it becomes a problem,” added Minott.
The UWI Open Campus has in place a Consortium for Social Development and Research and the Caribbean Child Development Centre. It has been partnering with the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) to expose wards of the state to soft and vocational skills so that they can better transition into being independent when they leave state care.
But Minott finds that the children are oftentimes perceived negatively.
“They are children, they are young people who need a chance,” declared Minott.
“When you speak to our young people, once you give them that break, you would be surprised at how they flourish,” added an impassioned Minott.
The UWI Open Campus has a transition to work programme where wards of the state are prepared to join the workforce. Under the programme, employers are encouraged to take on children over 17 years old, and these children are provided with stipends for a full year.
“We are encouraging employers to kind of place these youths in their organisations,” said Dr Priya Anaokar, who coordinates the Transitional Living Programme for Children in State Care.
“They are in the system because of someone else’s fault. It is no fault of theirs that they are in the system, because maybe they were neglected and abused,” said Anaokar, who is also concerned about the negative perception of wards of the state.
“These children are just like yours and my children. They need the same opportunities, they need the same trust, you need to place the same confidence in them too.
“You have to understand that they have come from very difficult situations, they have come with a lot of trauma. They are dealing with quite a lot and they need that support,” added Anaokar.
Chief executive officer of the CPFSA, Rosalee Gage-Grey, said the stigmatisation of children in state care is also evident in the school system and elsewhere, even as she noted that unemployment is high among Jamaican youths generally.
“Children who are wards of the state usually suffer some kind of discrimination generally, not specific to work, whether in the school setting or from people simply knowing that they are from that particular home,” said Gage-Grey.
“Over time, we have been trying to build their resilience to accept their present situation, because most of them didn’t have a say in their circumstances,” added Gage-Grey.
NOTE: An earlier version of this story had incorrectly identified Ceceile Minott as the head of the UWI Open Campus. She is, in fact, the head of the Caribbean Child Development Centre and director of the Consortium for Social Development and Research at the UWI Open Campus.