NEW YORK, USA — A former Department of Correctional Services (DCS) employee who has been trying for the past decade to secure her National Housing Trust (NHT) and National Insurance Scheme (NIS) benefits is now concerned that she will eventually lose them.

Seventy-one-year-old Hyacinth Davis, who was employed as a teacher at Lower Esher Juvenile Centre for girls in St Mary and later as assistant superintendent at the institution, from 1982 to 1988, alleged that the problem is due to “the failure of the Department of Correctional Services to pay over my National Housing Trust and National Insurance Scheme contributions over the years”.

“Now, the department is insisting that they are unable to locate my file,” she said.

According to Davis, she only became aware of the situation when she attempted to secure her benefits a year after becoming eligible 10 years ago.

Davis, who has been residing in the United States since resigning from the DCS in 1988, said that while she faced a similar situation at the Ministry of Education, where she was employed prior to her stint at the DCS, “I had no problem obtaining the records of my housing trust and NIS contributions from the ministry”.

The Department of Correctional Services did not respond to e-mail from the Jamaica Observer seeking comment on the matter.

Davis said all her efforts, “including visits to [the] head office of the DCS, letters, phone calls, and by my former colleagues to have the matter resolved, have failed. My most recent attempt was in October of last year during which I visited the office and spoke to a senior employee who advised that they are unable to locate my records. This is the same and only response that I have been getting all these years,” she told the Observer.

A very incensed Davis said she is also, “not pleased that I have not been told what, if anything, can be done by the department to assist me”.

She said that she would like to know, for example, “What mechanism the department has to deal with situations such as what I am facing, as I believe my situation is not unique.”

In an October 2024 letter to Brigadier (Retired) Radgh Mason, the commissioner of the Department of Correctional Services, seeking his direct intervention to resolve the matter, Davis wrote that “this matter has now become time-sensitive and I need to know that my NHT and NIS contributions are properly accounted for”. She also wrote, “I would highly appreciate an appointment with you during my planned visit from January 31 to February 5, 2025 to deal with this issue.”

According to Davis, she is yet to receive an acknowledgement of her letter to the commissioner. She said that she has provided what she believes are all necessary documentation and information to assist the DCS with the process. Among the information Davis said she has provided are her tax code, tax reference number, her employee number, and at least one pay advice for the month of December 1987 showing the withdrawal of her NHT and NIS contributions for that month.

It is believed, she said, that the mix-up with her employment record may have occurred when the department changed from manual record keeping to a computerised system several years ago.

Whatever the situation, Davis said she, “should not be placed in a situation where it now seems likely that I will not be able to secure the benefits that are due to me”.

Davis said she has decided to go public with the matter in a last-ditch effort to see if, “the DCS will at least respond to me and will find some way to ensure that the records of my contributions are located so that I can apply for my benefits”.

She said she does not believe she is the only person to have experienced this problem.