There is a grave need for the sensitization of children in residential care about their rights and responsibilities, according to a recent study, which also says that caregivers are being left in the dark about the reasons for some admissions.
The study, into ‘the Nature and Extent of Institutionalization of Children in Guyana,’ was commissioned by local non-governmental organisation ChildLink and was conducted by Donelle Bess-Bascom.
Among other things, it sought to examine the legalities of removing and placing children in institutions, assess standards of care in institutions and determine challenges of the re-integration process.
It found that in many cases, children are not prepared by their parents or the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) for being placed in residential care.
“It was not uncommon for children, having made a report, for example of abuse to a teacher, to be taken from school to CCPA.
At CCPA the decision to place the child in a facility is made. Invariably, the child was unprepared for that response, and many reacted with anger and resentment,” the report produced from the study stated.
It was further noted that these children often “run away” from the institutions in which they are placed and in some instances children who were removed from home after reporting incidents of abuse blamed themselves for the removal.
Consequently, one of the key recommendations of the study is that “all children should go through an initial conversation which must establish why they are being placed in residential care, with it being pointed out at every step that their safety, care and protection are of paramount importance and the attempt is to ensure one or all of these.”
The report lauded the CCPA for organizing training initiatives for parents to equip them with skills to address some of the issues relating to effective parenting, while noting that at the time of the analysis parents were undergoing a six-week Parenting Education Training Programme.
It, however, stressed that the children themselves are not adequately sensitized about their rights and responsibilities, with several young adults in care being unaware that they were free to leave and return home.
Additionally, it has been recommended that some form of dialogue is necessary between the residential facility and CCPA before a child’s admission, so that an informed response, based on the particular needs of the child, could be provided.
At present, caregivers are not told of the circumstances which led to a child being admitted to the facility before the placement was made, the study found.
“They were informed that the child would be assigned there and the facility was required to make the necessary arrangements for his or her admission.
That was found to have inherent challenges as, invariably, caregivers did not know what to expect and, therefore were unprepared for the circumstances presented by each child,” the report stated.
Additionally, the analysis found that there are no established criteria used by CCPA to determine in which facility a particular child is placed.
While CCPA reported that placement was based on an informal determination of the care facilities’ strengths as well as the preferences with regard to age and sex among other things, at the end of the analysis, Bess-Bascom stated that she was not in an informed position to state clearly where, for instance, an abused child (whether physical, sexual, neglected or otherwise) would be placed, as against a child whose family could not adequately provide food and shelter for him or her.
