KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is seeking to develop strategies for the acquisition of data for the establishment of an early warning alert for the child protection sector.

Portfolio Minister, Fayval Williams, who made the disclosure while making her contribution to the 2021/2022 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, said the present system depends on reports of abuse or neglect being made to the relevant child-protection agencies before action can be taken.

“Right now, the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) depends on reports of cases of abuse or neglect in order to activate the team. This is too late, and so that is why we are already working on some strategies that will allow us to get data to create an early warning signal to alert us when something has started to go wrong in the lives of our children,” the minister said, noting that more details will be provided as the strategy is developed.

As part of measures being examined with the aim of strengthening the sector, Williams said the capabilities of the electronic platform for case management at the CPFSA must be extended to other entities such as the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), the point of first contact for cases of abuse, and the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA).

This, she said, will enable the relevant authorities to move quickly to triangulate cases of abuse and take swifter actions to rescue children from distress.

“We will ensure that the various inter-ministerial task forces on children have timely information, so we can more fully integrate our efforts,” she said.

In its most recent annual report, the CPFSA reported 12,604 cases of abuse.