TWENTY-FIVE adolescents leaving State care will receive full scholarships for tertiary education, from Supreme Ventures Foundation under its latest investment in the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) Transitional Living Programme (TLP).

The announcement was made by Chloleen Daley-Muschett, assistant vice-president of public relations and corporate affairs at Supreme Ventures Limited, as she delivered greetings to the TLP Higher Education Day Expo held at Wolmer’s Boys’ School on Thursday.

According to Daley-Muschett, when the foundation first partnered with CPFSA’s TLP in 2021, it awarded 20 youths with full-ride scholarships while it was celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Now that the organisation is celebrating 25 years, Daley-Muschett argued that it was only fitting to award 25 excellent and deserving adolescents with full scholarships to fulfil their academic dreams.

“When we say full [scholarship], we mean full. So tuition, accommodation, expenses, housing, everything, miscellaneous, we provided for them,” she said.

“To date, I can tell you that the foundation has invested more than $100 million. That’s $100 million into the students who have gone through the programme so far. So you can do the math; if it was $100 million for 20, you can do the math to know how much we’ll be investing for the 25 students,” said Daley-Muschett.

Director of the Alternate Care Services Division at the Child Protection and Family Services Agency Larenzo Badalo gives an overview of the State agency’s Transitional Living Programme at Wolmer’s Boys’ School on Thursday.

That investment, she said, will cover whichever path a recipient chooses, noting that even a traditionally more pricey degree, like medicine, is supported.

“So when I say dream supreme, I mean dream supreme. Don’t limit yourself… If it is something that you’re interested in and you have an aptitude to do, go out there, get the information, make yourself visible, and you never know what can happen for you, because the success of our investment depends on you,” she said.

Daley-Muschett encouraged youth at the TLP Expo to be bold and pointed out that hard work and dedication are the values that will allow them to achieve their goals.

“It depends on your drive, your focus, your own ambition. Those are the qualities that will turn the opportunity that we give to you into achievement for life for you. So to all of you today who are a part of the TLP, this day is for you. The CPFSA has gone all out to have all of these executives here for you. Use the opportunities to ask questions, explore your options, and imagine your future. Don’t limit that imagination. Dream supreme,” she reiterated.

Described as an exit-readiness project, the TLP was implemented through the collaborative efforts of the CPFSA, The University of the West Indies Open Campus, the Caribbean Child Development Centre, and the United States Agency for International Development, which provided the funding for the initial implementation.

The aim of the project is to facilitate a smooth transition to independent living for adolescents who have reached 18 years and are leaving State care.

Assistant vice-president of public relations and corporate affairs at Supreme Ventures Limited Chloleen Daley-Muschett delivering her remarks at the the Child Protection and Family Services Agency’s Transitional Living Programme Expo at Wolmer’s Boys’ School on Thursday.

Under the programme, the TLP youngsters are exposed to different pathways to aid in their readiness for independent living. These include life skills, coaching, entrepreneurship, vocational and technical skills training, house accommodation for two years, as well as tertiary enrolment.

Wards who are unable to transition directly into tertiary programmes after leaving State care are provided the opportunity to participate in the agency’s Transition to Work Programme, under the vocational skills component of the project.

According to director of alternative care services at the CPFSA Larenzo Badalo, some 300 youths are currently benefiting from the many pathways offered by the programme.

He expressed hope that the youth present at the expo took the opportunity to make themselves visible and to become more knowledgeable about the paths available to them under the TLP.

“We want them, today, to understand that a derailment is not the end. Going through State care is just a stop on your journey to where you’re going. But while you’re in State care you’re not defined by being in State care. You should be able to have the access to all the opportunities that other persons who are not in State care are supposed to have. So what we do for them is bring services to them,” he said.

“So today we want them to see that there are educational opportunities for you. Here are scholarship opportunities, here are skill-based opportunities, or if you’re also considering an essential service programme. We have the JDF [Jamaica Defence Force] out there who are going to present their services. So our hope is that at least a significant number of them would see that they can have an education. They can get a skill and they can be gainfully employed so that they can support their independent lives,” said Badalo.