STATE minister in the Ministry of Local Government, Harry Douglas, yesterday announced that a draft policy to deal with the island’s homeless is expected to be brought before parliament before it dissolves later this year.

“We have embarked upon developing a Draft Policy on Homelessness which we are hoping to implement for the smooth and efficient management of our homeless,” Douglas said at yesterday’s handing-over ceremony of a 15-seater bus to the ministry’s Open Arms Drop-In Centre at the Bellevue Hospital by the Kingston and St Andrew Corp (KSAC).

“The Board of Supervision, under the able hand of Carol Anthony (Inspector of Poor), is charged with this responsibility along with the committee and I have no doubt this policy will have far-reaching impact for the care of those less fortunate in our midst,” Douglas said.

The Board of Supervision monitors and supervises infirmaries as well as the outdoor activities of the Poor Relief Department. There are an estimated 500 homeless people roaming the streets of Kingston, the majority of whom are believed to be mentally ill.

Yesterday chairperson of the board, Professor Denise Eldemire-Shearer, said after successfully establishing the drop-in centre at Bellevue, the panel is set to initiate similar programmes in other sections of the island.

According to her, another drop-in centre is expected to be opened in St Ann. That property has already been identified and the board will be working with the parish council and the business community to complete its implementation. A centre will be set up in Portland

as well.

“We need to recognise that management of the homeless is more than taking people off the streets,” Professor Eldemire-Shearer said.

“We have found something that works. This is a model that we want to take to the rest of the island,” she added, noting that while managing the homeless is difficult, the drop-off centre is a paradigm that can be replicated in the rest of the island so as to boost the government’s efforts to reduce the number of homeless people on the nation’s streets.

She said since the opening of the Bellevue facility, a total of 934 (870 males and 64 females) persons visit the centre on a monthly basis. The centre currently serves a clientele of 182 registered persons -163 men and 19 women.

The centre offers cooked meals, access to literacy and numeracy skills and provides necessities to facilitate proper hygiene among its clients. Social work intervention is also provided to help people re-establish links with their families.

In the meantime, Douglas, while commending the KSAC for its donation, said the ministry hoped to donate a bus to each parish in the future. Citing the high number of men who use the drop-in centre, the state minister said another facility is expected to be built on the hospital’s ground to facilitate an additional 50 males.