KINGSTON, Jamaica— With a youth (14-24 years) unemployment rate of 12.6 per cent or 26,200, the Government is introducing the Community Action for Rewarding Engagement (CARE) initiative aimed at reaching every young man and woman who is not working and is not enrolled in a training programme.

The programme is being introduced by the HEART/NSTA Trust.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness made the announcement Thursday during his contribution to the Budget Debate in the House of Representatives.

“This must be a special area of focus for HEART, we must find these young and not-so-young Jamaicans where they are and develop programmes to increase their employability. HEART will be proactive in finding you and bringing you to the well of training. If our economy is to grow we need every Jamaican who can work to enter the labour force,” said Holness.

He explained that the CARE initiative will be activated in all 63 constituencies. Each Member of Parliament will be asked to identify 30 young people from their constituency using predetermined selection parameters set by the programme. A specialised team at the HEART Trust will visit their house or elsewhere to engage with and enrol them into programmes that will enhance their employability.

The programme comes with a monthly transportation grant of $15,000 to offset transportation costs to the HEART institution that they will be enrolled in.

“This grant will be tied to their attendance at training. We will go even further; all trainees under the CARE programme will receive an additional stipend of $13,000 per week for the duration of their training,” Holness revealed.

He noted that for some people, extensive training may not be required, job placement, mentorship and career guidance may be all that is needed. He said HEART will arrange this as well.

“We recognise the urgent nature of the problem of shortage of skilled labour, I would go as far to say that it is now a national emergency. We must do everything possible, including moral suasion and incentivisation to bring more Jamaicans back into the labour force. In this regard, though HEART must lead the effort, it cannot do it alone. HEART will partner with well-structured and accountable entities on initiatives to attract and train more Jamaicans in the workforce,” said the prime minister.

He stated that the HEART/NSTA Trust is currently partnering with Project STAR in five communities: Rose Gardens and Parade Gardens in downtown Kingston; Savanna-la-Mar in Westmoreland; May Pen West in Clarendon; and Salt Spring in St James to reach unemployed and unattached youth in those communities.