KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security, Senator Pearnel Charles Jr has directed that a tracer study be conducted to determine the effectiveness of current rehabilitation programmes.

Charles Jr made the disclosure during his visit to the Rio Cobre Juvenile Correctional Centre for males on April 7, as part of his series of tours of correctional facilities.

The senator stressed the importance of identifying what happens to juvenile offenders once they leave correctional institutions, a release from the ministry said Thursday.

“It is imperative to note if the systems we have in place are actually working. We need to know if these children are becoming upstanding citizens of society or if they move on to become part of the adult correctional system,.” the state minister said as he along with the Commissioner of Corrections, Ina Hunter-Fairweather and other ministry officials met with staff at the facility.

The tour of correctional facilities provided the Minister with a firsthand view of some of the rehabilitation activities in progress and the opportunity to hear staff concerns.

This visit followed a tour of the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre on April 6.

The ministry said that on both visits, Charles Jr underscored that, “rehabilitation is critical to successful reintegration of wards into the society and as such it is essential that the programmes are sufficiently diversified so that wards are equipped to live a productive and progressive life upon re-entry to the wider society”.

The Senator’s tour of correctional facilities will continue with visits to the St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre and the Tamarind Farm Correctional Centre, the ministry said.