Thirty-seven

wards and members of staff of the Hill Top Juvenile Facility, who have

successfully completed a drama and theatre programme, were feted on Monday, October

27, during a closing ceremony held at the institution in St Ann.

The six-week

programme, dubbed ‘From Training to Stage’, was undertaken by the Ministry of

National Security as part of its youth-offender rehabilitation initiative.

Youth for

Arts and Recreational Development (YARD) Empire carried out the training in the

areas of acting, playwriting and stage presentation.

Minister of

State in the Ministry, Rudyard Spencer, in his remarks at the function, said

the Ministry, through the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), continues

to promote a healthy environment and productive alternatives for juvenile

remandees and offenders in Jamaica.

“The mandate

of the DCS, as it relates to the island’s 11 [correctional] institutions, is to

achieve a fulsome transformation of all offenders. At the end of the day, all

offenders should be successfully rehabilitated so that upon release, they are

productive, law-abiding citizens, thereby contributing to lower crime levels,”

he pointed out.

He said

researchers have found that high-maximum risk facilities with restrictive

social norms tend to be short-term solutions and cause more damage to the

psychosocial nature of the offenders.

“The

Department has taken note of best practices and is continuously implementing

rehabilitation activities through drama and the creative arts, community

involvement, education, agriculture among others,” he noted.