THE Government has terminated the contract of chief executive officer (CEO) of the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) Rosalee Gage-Grey.

Jamaica Observer sources say Gage-Grey’s termination letter was finally signed by Governor General (GG) Sir Patrick Allen after an almost week-long delay.

The Public Service Commission had submitted its decision to terminate Gage-Grey’s services more than one week ago, based on a report by the Office of the Children’s Advocate (OCA) into the CPFSA’s relationship with disgraced American educator Carl Robanske.

“The GG took a little time to sign the dismissal letter, but it was signed last Friday. However, there can be no official announcement yet as the terms of her separation are being finalised,” said one Observer source.

“There is no way she could stay after the OCA said she displayed ‘a grave lack of understanding at best or at worst, an act of wilful blindness to the scope of her administrative and moral responsibilities’,” added the source.

Gage-Grey was appointed CEO of the then Child Development Agency (CDA) in March 2014. The CPFSA was formed years later out of a merger of the CDA and the Office of Children’s Registry, as the leader of Jamaica’s child protection system.

Gage-Grey began her career in the public service in 1987 in the then Income Tax Department. After successfully completing the revenue agents training programme she was assigned to the Ministry of Finance in October 1989.

She then moved on to the CDA in 2003 in the position of director, human resource management and administration, a post she held until her appointment as CEO.

She holds a master of science in human resource development (1999) from The University of the West Indies, and a Bachelor of Business Administration (Management) (1992) from the University of Technology, Jamaica.

Following the release of the OCA report last month, minister with responsibility for information Robert Morgan said it would be difficult for Gage-Grey to remain head of the CPFSA after she was accused of a “gross breach” of care for engaging Robanske, whose teaching licence had been revoked in the US for inappropriate contact with a minor.

The OCA report had recommended that disciplinary action be taken against Gage-Grey for her “gross breach of the duty of care owed to wards of the State and former wards”.

In March 2021 Nationwide News Network first reported about the partnership between the CPFSA and Robanske’s charity Embracing Orphans, which led to the establishment of The Father’s House, a transitional facility for female wards of the State. in 2014.

The CPFSA learnt of Robanske’s past from as early as 2018 but the relationship was only severed in 2021 after the news report.