SOME 44 child offenders in St Elizabeth have been referred to the Ministry of Justice’s child diversion programme since it was implemented in March 2020.

Speaking with JIS News, child diversion officer for the parish Heidi-Ann Nembhard, says at the end of June 2022, 32 of the 44 child referrals were successfully discharged from the programme, after completing the necessary intervention for reform and rehabilitation.

The child diversion officer noted that the programme’s success is noteworthy, and that the children treated have been hailing its effectiveness.

“The programme started in March 2020, and we’re guided by the Child Diversion Act of 2018. So, it’s a new programme; it’s something that is working and, so far, we’ve had many success stories. We’ve had children calling us to tell us about how much the programme has benefited them,” she said.

Nembhard said that after referral to the Child Diversion Programme, a treatment plan is designed specific to the offence committed by the child. This is then signed off by the parish’s child diversion committee.

“We try to do an assessment to focus on why this child is offending. When we find out what’s the root cause, what we want to get to is what kind of treatment is needed. That treatment plan is [then] signed off… by the persons on our parish child diversion committee, and this comprises of persons from various agencies within the parish,” she explained.

“So once this is signed off, what will happen is that the child would commence his or her child diversion programme… That programme would consist sometimes of mentorship, counselling, training, and we also do sexual and reproductive health education for some of these children who may have committed a sexual offense,” Nembhard continued.

She indicated that the office works closely with the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA), the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), ministers of religion, psychologists, and community groups to execute the programme.

“We’re working closely with our community groups, as well, because we want all these children referred to the programme to be reintegrated into their communities, not as criminals but we want them to be seen as individuals, as boys and girls, not as criminals,” she underscored.

The office recently took the child diversion message to a Social Development Commission (SDC) Social Services Fair, held at Maggotty High School in St Elizabeth, where students and parents were educated about the benefits of the programme.

“We know in a lot of schools today we have our children getting into conflicts, so they are fighting a lot… We have occasions where persons may have committed an assault… they are young, we don’t want that to hamper or jeopardise their future,” she added.

Child diversion is the exercise of implementing measures for dealing with children aged 12 to 17 years who are alleged as, accused of, or recognised as having infringed the penal law without resorting to formal judicial proceedings.