The Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) is reporting that 151 children, who went missing over the period of January to December 2023, are still missing.

According to a news release on Wednesday, that figure includes 133 females and 18 males. The number also represents 14.7 per cent of the total 1 027 children who went missing for the period. Of that total number, 875 children were returned home safely.

The CPFSA, in their statement, said that while the majority of children were recovered safely, it is still concerned with the large number of children who go missing each year, and is making every effort to curb the crisis of missing children that Jamaica is experiencing.

“A major area of strategic focus for the Agency for 2024 is ensuring the implementation of various strategies to reduce instances of missing children, while improving the effectiveness of recovery and intervention efforts,” chief executive officer of the CPFSA, Laurette Adams-Thomas stated.

One of these methods of intervention being employed by the Agency is the hosting of youth-centred forums, such as the Ananda Alert Western Youth Forum, which will focus on developing solutions to address this problem.

This forum will be held on Thursday, February 1 in Montego Bay, St James and will allow students from a wide cross section of schools in the Western Region to not only hear experts present on the topic, but also participate and have their voices be heard when it comes to creating relevant solutions.

The Ananda Alert Western Youth Forum will be the second in a series. The first was held in Kingston on May 25, 2023. Thursday’s forum will target teenagers between the ages of 13-16 years.