JAMAICANS dumped 55 children on the state over an 11-month period, cramping renewed efforts to reduce the numbers inside children’s homes.

Based on the number of cases reported to the Child Development Agency (CDA) between April 2006 and the end of February, it would appear that families across Jamaica abandoned at least five children a month, with more than half of them falling into the zero-six age group.

The figures also show that more girls than boys were abandoned during the period, even though there was only a slight difference between the numbers. Twenty-six boys were dumped by their parent(s) compared to 29 girls.

Families in St Catherine, St Thomas and Kingston and St Andrew were guilty of ditching almost half of the 55 children who were reported abandoned. The combined parishes saw 26 babies and youngsters – 14 boys and 12 girls – being forced into children’s homes. Eight of these children were between 0 and 11 months old, seven children ranged between one and six years old, another five were between seven and 12 years, and two were 13 years old and older. The CDA said it was unable to ascertain the exact age of the other four children in this region.

Western Jamaica – St James, Hanover, Westmoreland and Trelawny – ranked next, with 19 reported cases, consisting of 11 girls and eight boys. A staggering 13 of these minors were aged between one and six years, and there were three each in the age groups 0-11 and 7-12.

Six children, evenly split between both sexes, were reported abandoned in the southern region of St Elizabeth, Clarendon and Manchester; all were below 13 years. The combined parishes of St Ann, St Mary and Portland had the lowest number of cases with three girls and a boy reported abandoned. One child was less than a year old, another fell in the 1-6 age group, while two children were between seven and 12 years old.

It was not immediately clear why some parishes recorded a higher number of reported cases of child abandonment compared to others. But the CDA’s communications manager Rashida St Juste said the reasons were varied.

St Juste pointed out that in general, some cases of abandonment result from frustrated parents’ inability to provide quality care for their children.

“Perhaps the parent needs counselling, needs money to support the child – it can sometimes be very difficult,” she told the Sunday Observer.

In fact, she said the agency’s Living in a Family Environment (LIFE) programme is aimed at addressing some of these issues. The programme, she said, seeks to assist fragile families to better care for their children’s future and build an effective support and welfare system. Foster care and adoption form part of this initiative to enhance family-based care, she explained.

Some 5,575 children are presently in the care of the government and of that number, 1,148 are in foster care with some 800 foster families.

The police or hospitals usually notify the agency if a child has been abandoned. Children deemed to be in need of the state’s protection are usually found wandering the streets or abandoned at home, in which case neighbours or relatives alert the police. In some instances, too, St Juste said, these children are abandoned in hospitals. If attempts to locate the parents or guardians are successful, a referral is made to the CDA, which takes the deserted child before the court.

“Most of them (children) receive a fit person order, which is issued by the court on the recommendation of the CDA that the children be placed in family homes,” the communications manager explained. The fit person’s role is the same as that of the child’s parent or guardian in terms of provision of care.

She added that the agency usually seeks public support to locate the parents or guardians of the children. Advertisements are placed in the newspapers, displaying the name, age and picture of the abandoned child (depending on the age), or with the name and last known address of the parents involved.

“If the family is located and there is sufficient reason to believe that the child’s best interests will be served by placing him/her with the parent(s) or relative(s), the CDA may recommend that the court issues a supervision order,” St Juste told the Sunday Observer. A supervision order is issued when the court determines that a child’s best interest is protected if he or she is returned to the family

under supervision of a children’s officer.

The Child Care and Protection Act criminalises the abandonment of a child, viewing the act as a form of child abuse.